HomeMy WebLinkAboutPCD 2021-06-07 Item 2D - Update - Development and Land Use PermittingCity of Tukwila
Allan Ekberg, Mayor
INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
TO: Planning and Community Development Committee
FROM: Nora Gierloff, DCD Director
CC: Mayor Ekberg
DATE: June 1, 2021
SUBJECT: Development and Land Use Permitting Update
ISSUE
Update on actions to reduce timelines for review and issuance of both construction and land use
permits.
BACKGROUND
There are two main categories of permits issued by the Department of Community Development.
Permits related to construction include development (building), mechanical, plumbing, electrical,
land altering, public works, and fire permits. The Planning Division also processes land use
permits, which include conditional use, design review, SEPA environmental review, special
permission, and critical areas approvals. The graphics below show the total number of
development and land use permits that were submitted and the number that were issued per
month over the last year and a half.
Permit Applications by Month
It OF PERMIT APPLICATIONS
24C
220
200
180
160 --
140 140
182
139
157 1
SS
2020 Mae May Jul 0.0
210
209
2
18'
166
161
156
M1Ym
2021
May
Permits issued by Month
220
202
180
160
140 --
120 120
169
194
163
130
133
146
187
174
127
153
160
215
156
147
187
178
150
2020 My May Jul S. Nov 2025 My May
23
24
INFORMATIONAL MEMO
Page 2
Project Applications by Month
20
la -
M OF PROJECTS
16 -
14 -
10
6
4 -
2
13
10 a0 10
17
s
3
2020 Mr May Jul Seo New 2021
Approved Project Applications by Month
ga
6
4 -
2020 Mr• Moly Jul
14
2021
My
May
DISCUSSION
The Department is still recovering from the disruptions of the pandemic, conversion to online
permitting, and staff shortages. With the support of Council we have begun the effort to restaff the
Department.
We have six candidates for the Deputy Director position and will be conducting interviews on June
3rd. We only have two qualified candidates for the Development Supervisor which isn't a large pool
so we will interview them and then see if we need to readvertise or modify the position. We have
60 plus applicants for the Associate Planner position so a much better pool of candidates. The
Development Review Engineer and Code Enforcement positions are still open so we don't have
final applicant numbers.
We have made an offer to a building inspector and hope to settle on a start date soon. The
Building Official is expected to return to work part-time in June.
If we are successful in recruiting appropriate candidates in this challenging hiring environment we
could have positions filled in approximately two months. Onboarding and training would take
another two to three months before new staff would reach full productivity. We could expect a
reduction in the permit backlog and an improvement in processing times within 4 to 5 months,
assuming no additional vacancies.
https://tukwilawa.sharepoint.com/sites/mayorsoffice/cc/Council Agenda Items/DCD/PCD InfoMemo Permits 6-7-21.docx
INFORMATIONAL MEMO
Page 3
Other Proposed Solutions to Improve Customer Service
• Continue to cross train staff and document procedures to improve resiliency to unexpected
events
• Offer online intake appointments to assist new applicants with the permit system
• Continue to pursue agreements with neighboring cities for inspection back up to handle
vacations and illnesses
• Continue working with TIS to improve the online permit submittal experience
• Improve the permit handouts and website to provide better direction to applicants
• Rehire the extra labor Planning Intern position after the planner position is refilled and we
have the capacity to oversee the student
• Continue efforts to fill the vacant Building Division Plans Examiner position
The six planning and development staff have the following projects in addition to permit review:
• Tukwila South/Prado District Residential Design Guidelines
• Transit Oriented Development Housing Action Plan review and adoption
• 5G pole standards and review procedure development
• Permanent ordinance to address federal small cell requirements, replacing the current
interim ordinance
• Code amendments to address new state requirements for shelters and supportive housing
• Tukwila Village parking plan finalization
• Ongoing discussions with the SRO property owners and Sound Transit about the proposed
pedestrian bridge over 518
• Ongoing discussions with Forterra about the Wadijir project code modification requests
• Discussions with King County about reasonable measures that will be required because
Tukwila has not met its regional growth targets for housing units or jobs
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The unfreezing of the vacant Associate Planner and Code Enforcement positions require
applicable salary and employee related expenses to be added back to the DCD budget. Most of
the other changes could be accomplished within the existing 2021 budget.
RECOMMENDATION
Information only. The Finance and Governance Committee held a discussion of service restoration
priorities on April 26, 2021.
https://tukwilawa.sharepoint.com/sites/mayorsoffice/cc/Council Agenda Items/DCD/PCD InfoMemo Permits 6-7-21.docx
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