Construction & land development consulting in King County

Unincorporated county versus the cities

King County Permits, within the Department of Local Services, handles land use, building and fire permits for unincorporated King County only. If your parcel is inside Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, Kent, Auburn, Sammamish, Issaquah, Shoreline or any other incorporated city, that city permits your project under its own code and its own timelines.

This trips people up constantly, particularly on parcels near city boundaries. King County publishes a parcel viewer and unincorporated-area map, and confirming jurisdiction before anything else is standard practice on every CLD engagement.

What King County projects tend to run into

Critical areas are pervasive — streams, wetlands, steep slopes on the east side, and shoreline jurisdiction along the lakes and Puget Sound. Tree retention and clearing limits are stricter in many King County jurisdictions than elsewhere in the region. Stormwater requirements are demanding, and infiltration feasibility varies sharply with the glacial soils.

On the entitlement side, urban infill in the cities carries design review, and in several jurisdictions that's a discretionary process with a schedule of its own.

Where CLD adds the most value here

Pre-purchase feasibility on parcels where the constraint stack is genuinely complicated. Permit unsticking, especially where an applicant has been cycling on corrections without a coordinated response. And owner's representation on projects large enough that the cost of an unmanaged construction phase exceeds the cost of managing it.

Common questions