Summary

To the applause of staff and customers, King County Executive Dow Constantine today issued the first single-family home building permit from the new Snoqualmie offices of the newly-renamed King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review.

Story

At the permit counter of the new Snoqualmie offices for the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review, County Executive Dow Constantine issues the first single-family home building permit to permit runner Lori Reynolds, owner of The Permit Group. Looking on is permit review coordinator Stacy Graves.

To the applause of staff and customers, King County Executive Dow Constantine today issued the first single-family home building permit from the new Snoqualmie offices of the newly-renamed King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review.

“This new location is more convenient for our customers, more efficient for our staff, and will save money compared to the former offices,” said Executive Constantine. “This is a win for everyone.”

Executive Constantine issued a permit to build a single-family home to permit runner Lori Reynolds, owner of The Permit Group, who applied on behalf of a client building a home in Redmond Ridge. “It is definitely more convenient and I’m looking forward to conducting business here,” said Reynolds.

Most of the agency’s customers are now in rural east King County, as a result of annexations and incorporations that have dramatically reduced the size and number of urban areas in unincorporated King County, and therefore reduced the number of customers.

“It is by far more convenient than dealing with all the traffic at Renton,” said Jeff Peterson, with Developer CamWest, who picked up a permit today. “I think it will be good for everyone up and down the Valley. It was great to see all the familiar faces today.”

The agency opened for business today in the new Snoqualmie location after moving over the weekend from its long-time offices in Renton. The move is expected to save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and is the latest in a series of customer-service-focused changes made in the last two years by Department Director John Starbard. He said he and his staff have hit the “reset button” on their agency.

“We have reorganized, renamed and relocated this agency to the point that it is really a new department,” said Starbard. “We can now focus our energies on reviewing and issuing quality, accurate and timely permits.”

The new offices at 35030 SE Douglas Street, Suite 210, in Snoqualmie are designed to serve customers more easily and create new efficiencies and transparency for staff. Customer-friendly changes already made include:

• Over-the-counter permits issued in two hours instead of two months.
• Fixed fees for service give customers cost certainty unlike former billing by the hour.
• One stop to connect to Permitting, Public Health and Roads.
• A new computer software portal that makes a wealth of information newly accessible.

Office hours for the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review are 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Learn more at: www.kingcounty.gov/permits.