23.76.005

A. Except as otherwise provided in this Section 23.76.005 or otherwise agreed to by the applicant, land use decisions on applications shall be made according to the following time periods. If more than one land use decision is required for a project and there are multiple applicable permit review time periods for the project, the longest applicable time period for decision shall apply. References to days in this Section 23.76.005 shall be calculated by counting every calendar day. 1. Type I: within 65 days after the applicant has been notified that the application is complete, except that the following decisions shall be made within 150 days: a. A Type I land use decision that includes a public notice; and b. A Type I land use decision for a waiver or modification of development standards for Master Use Permit applications subject to temporary design review provisions in subsection 23.41.004.E.3. 2. Type II: within 120 days after the applicant has been notified that the application is complete, except that the following decisions shall be made within 170 days: a. A Type II design review permit decision; b. A Type II SEPA determination permit decision; c. A Type II Major Phased Development permit decision; and d. A Type II special exception permit decision. 3. Type III: the Director shall issue a recommendation within 170 days. There is no time period for a final decision on a Type III permit. 4. Type IV: as provided in subsection 23.76.005.E.2; and 5. Type V: no time period for a final decision. B. In determining the number of days that have elapsed for purposes of subsection 23.76.005.A, the following periods shall be excluded: 1. All periods of time during which the Director or Hearing Examiner has requested that the applicant correct plans, perform required studies, or provide additional required information, until the day responsive information is resubmitted by the applicant; 2. Any extension of time mutually agreed upon, in writing, by the Director or Hearing Examiner and the applicant; 3. Temporary suspensions of permit review requested by an applicant until such time that the applicant notifies the Director or Hearing Examiner in writing to resume permit review, provided that: a. A penalty of an additional 30 days may be added to the time period for a decision if the applicant requests the Director, in writing, to temporarily suspend the review of the project for more than 60 days; and b. A penalty of an additional 30 days may be added to the time period for a decision if the applicant is not responsive for more than 60 consecutive days after the Director has notified the applicant, in writing, that additional information is required to further process the application and that nonresponsiveness for 60 consecutive days may result in 30 days being added to the time for review. For the purposes of this subsection 23.76.005.B.3.b, "nonresponsiveness" means that an applicant is not making demonstrable progress on providing additional requested information to the City, or that there is no ongoing communication from the applicant to the City on the applicant's ability or willingness to provide the additional information; 4. For projects for which an EIS has been required, the EIS process time period established in subsection 23.76.005.C;. 5. Any time period for filing an appeal or request for further consideration of the land use decision to the Hearing Examiner or City Council as applicable, and the time period to consider and decide the appeal; 6. All periods of time during which the Director has requested information from the applicant that confirms payment of due or past-due fees related to the application, until the day the applicant submits confirmation of payment. C. The time required to prepare an EIS shall be agreed to by the Director and applicant in writing. Unless otherwise agreed to by the applicant, a final environmental impact statement shall be issued by the Director within one year following the issuance of a Determination of Significance for the proposal, unless the EIS responsible party advises that a longer time period is necessary. In that case, the additional time shall be that recommended by the responsible party, not to exceed an additional year. D. The time period established by subsections 23.76.005.A, 23.76.005.B, and 23.76.005.C do not apply if a permit application: 1. Requires an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan or the Land Use Code; 2. Requires the siting of an essential public facility; 3. Requires the vacation of public right-of-way; 4. Requires a nomination for a landmark designation; 5. Includes an existing designated landmark on its site; 6. Is for a project located within a landmark district or a historical district; 7. Is subject to review under Chapter 23.66 ; or 8. Is for approvals relating to the use of public areas or facilities. E. Exclusions pursuant to RCW 36.70B.140(1) 1. Type II decisions. There is no time period for a decision on an application that: a. Includes a shoreline exception or shoreline variance from the Shoreline Master Program regulations in Chapter 23.60A , or a shoreline conditional use; or b. Includes an exception from Chapter 25.09 . 2. Type IV Council land use decisions a. There is no time limit for decisions on Major Institution master plans. b. All other Type IV Council land use decisions and any associated Type II decisions listed in subsection 23.76.006.C.2, except for the exclusions listed in subsections 23.76.005.E.1 and 23.76.005.E.2.c, shall be made within the following time periods: 1) The Director shall issue a recommendation within 100 days as that time period is calculated pursuant to subsections 23.76.005.A, 23.76.005.B, 23.76.005.C, and 23.76.005.D; 2) The Hearing Examiner shall issue a recommendation within 90 days of issuance of the Director's recommendation; and 3) The Council shall issue its decision within 90 days of receipt of the Hearing Examiner recommendation, except that if a timely appeal is filed with the City Clerk, the Council shall issue its decision within 120 days of receipt of the Hearing Examiner recommendation. c. In determining the time limits for Type IV Council land use decisions established in this subsection 23.76.005.E, the following periods shall be excluded: 1) The time during which a Type IV Council land use decision is remanded by the Hearing Examiner or the Council for further information or analysis. The Hearing Examiner or the Council shall set a reasonable period for the remand after consideration of the nature and complexity of the issues, and, if practicable, after consultation with the parties about the reasonableness of the remand period; and 2) All periods of time during which the Director has requested information from the applicant that confirms payment of due or past-due fees related to an application, until the day the applicant submits confirmation of payment; and3) Any extension of time mutually agreed upon by the Hearing Examiner and the applicant or the City Council and the applicant. F. Type V Council land use decisions are legislative decisions to which no time periods apply. G. If a permit application is revised by the applicant by adding or removing commercial or residential elements from the original application that would make the application fail to meet the determination of procedural completeness for the revised application, the time period shall start over on the date the revised application is determined to be complete. (Ord. 127300 , § 1, 2025; Ord. 125587 , § 2, 2018; Ord. 123913, § 5, 2012; Ord. 122497 , § 5, 2007; Ord. 120857, § 1, 2002; Ord. 120157, § 5, 2000; Ord. 118012, § 24, 1996)