4-8-2024_PW SS Briefings (3) - Laserfiche WebLink

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complete an application.within 120 days,state law allows them to follow certain processes.About 50 cities and counties are also required to publish annual reports on the timeliness of their permit reviews. To determine whether local governments are complying with the 120-day rule, including the annual reporting requirement,we looked at six local governments chosen to represent high-growth areas in the state. uaiteid governments men state-mandated permitting deadlines inconsistently in some areas, sometimes by Wide margins (page 13) State law sets out a 120-day deadline for local governments to process Iand use, civil and building permits.Performance of the six local governments against this target varied widely and depended on the type of permit being processed.Audited governments met the state-mandated deadline for more than 90 percent of building permits,but some struggled to process land use and civil permits in time-often by wide margins. In the case of land use permits,four governments processed at least 75 percent of applications within 120 days.Key factors for slow processing of these permits included project complexity,staffing shortages and inefficient processes. Washington law gives local governments two ways to make exceptions to the 120-day rule.However,none of the audited governments documented the process for extending permit deadlines for specific projects.Two audited governments inappropriately used waivers to eliminate permit deadlines entirely. Although already using many leading practices, audited governments could adopt practices to further irnprove permit review times (page27) Although audited governments used many leading practices around permit processing,most did not fully apply practices related to continuous improvement. All audited governments used leading practices related to education and outreach. In addition,most had partially implemented staffing flexibility plans for high- volume periods. However,audited governments could also improve their implementation of continuous improvement practices. Growth Management Act - Executive Summary 4