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Pierce County development permit process
This section describes six major steps in the Pierce County
development and permit process.
1) To start the development process, an applicant begins at the Planning and
Land Services (PALS) office by filling out a Master Application for Land Use
Actions.
2) An applicant may request to have a pre-filing meeting with Pierce County
personnel to find out what to expect when an application is processed. The
pre-filing meeting is available to applicants for projects requiring Land Use
Review. The pre-filing meeting will provide the applicant with all required
application material, an understanding of the hearing or administrative review
process, and a list of requirements for application submittal (Pierce County
2003b). Depending on the nature of the request, representatives of the following
departments may attend the pre-filing meetings: Development Engineering, Fire
Marshal, Code Enforcement, Tacoma/Pierce County Health Department, Resource
Management Environmental Biologist, Utilities, and Building.
3) The applicant is notified when the Notice of Application (NOA) is mailed, and
purchases a public notice sign to post on the property within 14 days of the
submittal of the application. The planner receives the application within a day
and will issue a NOA within two days of receiving the application. The site is
then posted with a yellow public notice sign. This sign will have information
posted that will be needed to request files.
The NOA is sent out to all neighbors within 300 feet (and/or two lots deep) and
other relevant County departments, and state agencies for comments. School
Districts, Fire Districts, Treaty Tribes and other pertinent entities are also
sent copies of the application for comments. The general public (those not
living near the site) can find NOAs posted at the PALS office in the front lobby
and in the Development Center. Also, the yellow sign posted on the property
gives notice to the public that there is an application in process. The County
website at
http://www.piercecountywa.org/cfapps/DCIS/mainpage.htm
allows people to check the status of submitted permit applications.
Land use and subdivision project inquiries can be directed to Development
Processing at (253) 798-7037.
4) The Environmental Official at the County will conduct a site visit and issue
an environmental threshold determination under the State Environmental Policy
Act (SEPA) guidelines (see SEPA section for more information).
5) The project is then scheduled for a public meeting before the Land Use
Advisory Commission (LUAC) and a public hearing before the Hearing Examiner
(HE). There is a minimum wait of 45 days between the issuance of State
Environmental Policy Act determination and the public hearing for the purposes
of 15-day comment period and 30 days for appeal. The public notice is published
in the newspaper and sent to the parties of record. The meetings before the
LUACs are not considered public hearings.
County planners prepare a staff report, which is mailed to the LUAC members a
minimum of one week before the meeting. The LUAC meeting is held and a
recommendation is made to the Hearing Examiner. There is approximately a 3-week
period between the LUAC meeting and the Hearing Examiner hearing. This allows
for advertising in the official County newspaper (Eatonville Dispatch) and the
planner to incorporate the LUAC recommendation into the staff report to the
Hearing Examiner. Notices are sent again to the neighbors, parties of record,
and posted in the Eatonville Dispatch informing interested parties of the
upcoming hearing before the Hearing Examiner. A party of record is defined by
the County as a person or entity who has testified before the Hearing Examiner,
listed their names on a sign-up-sheet, or specifically advised the Planning
Department or Hearing Examiner by individual written letter of their desire to
become a party of record. Staff reports may be obtained from the planner
assigned to the project (Sam Yekalam, PALS, personal communication dated
6/17/02). See Appendix D for map areas of planners.
6) The files for any development project contain critical information that will
be discussed at public meetings and hearings. It is highly recommended that you
review all project files before submitting input to Land Use Advisory
Commissions or Hearing Examiner.
The PALS will provide project files upon request. When requesting case files
from PALS, make sure that you bring in the case number or parcel number so they
can supply the correct information. You will fill out a request form at the PALS
counter. Request the Environmental file (if there are critical areas on site),
the Development Engineering file (to check on stormwater management), and the
Planning file to check other development information.
Marian Berejikian
Friends of Pierce County
P. O. Box 2084
Gig Harbor, WA 98335
www.friendsofpiercecounty.org
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