Permit Center Annual Performance Reporting

The City is required to submit an annual performance report to the Washington State Department of Commerce by March 1 of each year. The report provides details about our permit process performance for multifamily residential permits approved in the previous calendar year.

Washington State law governs the amount of time local jurisdictions should take to issue a decision on a complete permit application to ensure that decisions are made fairly, efficiently, and on time. While local governments can customize their processes, they must meet or beat the maximum permit review timelines set by the state*.

*An exemption to the permit review deadline may apply if both the applicant and the City mutually agree to extend the review period for a project permit application (RCW 36.70B.080(3)).

We are committed to streamlining the permit process.

Learn more about an executive order signed by Mayor Kim Lund in November 2024 that calls for streamlining the permitting process to increase the supply of affordable housing in our growing community.

State Reporting Requirements

Washington State Senate Bill 5290 was approved in 2023 to amend RCW 36.70B and establish the following requirements:

Effective January 1, 2025, we are required to meet the following timelines unless locally modified by ordinance:

30 calendar days to review final plat project permits
90 calendar days to review preliminary plat project permits
65 calendar days to review permits not requiring public notice
100 calendar days to review permits requiring public notice
170 calendar days to review permits requiring public notice and a public hearing

Timelines prior to January 1, 2025:

30 calendar days to review final plat project permits
90 calendar days to review preliminary plat project permits
120 calendar days to review all other project permit applications

The permit review timelines begin once the city issues a determination of completeness. Local jurisdictions have 28 calendar days from the date an application is submitted to confirm it meets all procedural submittal requirements and verify fees have been paid before beginning the review process. The agency will send the applicant a “Notice of Complete Application” once all requirements are met. If the application is determined to be incomplete, staff must notify the applicant in writing issuing a “Notice of Incomplete Application” and explain what information is necessary to make it complete.

If the City exceeds the permit timelines, it must refund a portion of the permit fees unless it has implemented at least three optional measures to streamline the project review as outlined in RCW 36.70B.160(1)(a)-(j). The State Department of Commerce also offers several strategies to reduce delays that the local jurisdictions are encouraged to implement, several that the city of Bellingham have already adopted. However, if the city exceeds the required review timelines more than 50 percent of the time, we must adopt and implement these suggested strategies.

Cities with populations of 20,000 or more must prepare an annual performance report detailing permit decisions from the previous calendar year and submit it to the Department of Commerce by March 1. The report must meet the minimum requirements outlined in RCW 36.70B.080.

The reporting has two key components: adherence to the new permit review timelines and compliance with reporting requirements for specific project and permit types identified in RCW 36.70B.080, but specifically focusing on multifamily projects and subdivisions.

This page satisfies the state’s reporting requirement providing the public access to yearly performance trends. Additionally, the Department of Commerce published a performance report on July 1, allowing the pubic to compare permit trends across all cities and counties subject to annual reporting.

Please note: The state report does not reflect the total number of permits the permit center approved during the year. To view year-over-year permit activity, please visit the Permit Activity webpage.

City of Bellingham Performance Report for 2024

This report provides a summary of decisions made on specific types of permits that cities are required to report under Senate Bill 5290 and RCW 36.70B. It does not include all permits approved by the City’s Permit Center in 2024 — only the types selected by the state for annual reporting. This year’s report is based on timelines prior to January 1, 2025.

Understanding Timelines in the Summary Report Table

The state uses two ways to measure how long it takes to process permits:

Days to Process (with pauses): This includes both government time (when staff are reviewing) and applicant time (when the permit is sent back to the applicant for more information). This is the total processing time in calendar days.
Days of Review (without pauses): This counts government time only — the days the application was actively being reviewed by staff.

Here’s how the review timeline works:

The review clock starts when the application is complete.
The review clock pauses when the city requests more information from the applicant.
It resumes once the applicant submits the missing information.
The clock ends when a final decision is issued.

Summary Report Table

Permit Type	Total number of decisions	Number of permits reviewed under a consolidated process	Number of permits reviewed separately	Average calendar days to process (with pauses)*	Average calendar days to process (without pauses)**	Number of decisions exceeding the deadline
Preliminary Subdivision	4	4	0	0	0	0
Final Subdivision	5	0	5	64	21	1
Binding Site Plan	2	0	2	395	40	0
Multifamily Housing Permit	64	21	43	223	112	9
Construction Permit	204	0	204	155	65	19
Total	279	25	254	167	72	29

* Average calendar days to process (with pauses): This includes both government time (when staff are reviewing) and applicant time (when the permit is sent back to the applicant for more information). This is the total processing time in calendar days.

** Average calendar days to process (without pauses): This counts government time only — the days the application was actively being reviewed by staff.

What’s Included in the Report?

Project Permits:

Administrative (Parking Waiver)
Critical Areas (Minor, Standard)
Design Review (Commercial, Infill Toolkit, Multifamily, Urban Village)
Planned Development (Commercial, Mixed, Residential)
Public Facilities Contract (Combo, Water)
Subdivision (Final Plat, General Binding Site Plan, Preliminary Plat, Specific Binding Site Plan)

Building Permits :

Building Mixed Use (New Construction Home)
Building Multifamily Residential (New Construction Home)
New Construction Home (Deferred Impact Fees, New Structure)

What’s Excluded from the Report?

Single Family
Duplex (2 units)
Amended projects or permits
Short Plats 1 to 4 lots
Short Plats 5 to 9 lots
Statuses: Voided or Withdrawn, In Appeal, In Review, Applied, Maintenance Period

All data contained on this page is subject to the City’s Policies and Disclaimers. Neither the City, nor any department, officer, or employee of the City warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from this system, and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. The City has collected this information for its own purposes from different agencies, businesses, and other sources throughout the City and region. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at their own risk.