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Performance Audit <br />Work in progress: Audit description <br />Growth Management Act: <br />County and city compliance with the state's 120-day <br />permitting requirement <br />The Washington Growth Management Act (GMA) requires fast-growing counties and <br />cities to develop comprehensive plans and regulations to guide future growth and limit <br />the ecological impact of urban sprawl. To ensure public safety and protect the <br />environment, land developers, professional builders and property owners must apply for <br />permits from the jurisdiction where they plan to build. As the number of development <br />regulations and environmental laws has increased, so too has the number of required <br />permits. <br />When the Legislature passed the GMA, among its goals was to give applicants more <br />predictability on how long it will take to get a permit approved. The Act included two <br />related requirements: <br />To establish time periods for the governments' permit review that do not exceed <br />120 days <br />• Certain local governments must report annually on performance, such as the <br />annual volume of permits and average processing time <br />Local governments are allowed to make exceptions to the 120-day rule in two <br />circumstances. They may: <br />Establish different timeframes for permit types that are known to take more <br />than 120 days <br />• Extend the timeframe for specific permits with the agreement of the applicant <br />Preliminary scope and objectives <br />This audit will look at a selection of county and city governments' planning and <br />permitting departments. It will examine their permitting processes to see if they are <br />complying with this 120-day rule, and identify any opportunities for improvement. This <br />audit seeks to answer the following questions: <br />1. To what extent are local governments complying with the 120-day rule, including <br />the annual reporting requirement? <br />2. Are local governments using processes appropriately for project permit reviews <br />that exceed 120 days? <br />Assistant Director of <br />Performance Audit: <br />Justin Stowe <br />(564) 201-2970 <br />Justin.Stowe@sao.wa.gov <br />Principal Performance <br />Auditor: <br />Melissa Smith <br />(564) 999-0832 <br />Melissa.Smith@sao. <br />wa.gov <br />Lead Performance <br />Auditor: <br />Carolyn Cato <br />(564)999-0848 <br />Carolyn. Cato @sao.wa. <br />gov <br />Office of the Washington <br />State Auditor <br />P.O. Box 40021 <br />Olympia, WA <br />98504-0021 <br />564-999-0950 <br />www.sao.wa.gov <br />@ WAStateAuditor <br />Posted: TBA 2023 <br />