There was a rush at Snohomish County’s building permit counter last week.
Landowners lined up by the dozens to file development applications in time to avoid new stricter environmental regulations.
For a county that already was among the fastest growing in the state and country, the glut set a record for the number of complex development applications sought in a single week.
There were 42 applications for big projects, including subdivisions, homes built on a common property and multi-family housing.
“We knew it was going to happen,” said Craig Ladiser, the county’s director of planning and development services.
Officials are analyzing the applications.
The previous record was 25 in a single week, set in March 2006 after the county approved 20-year growth plans that boosted development levels.
A typical week would see about a dozen such applications.
In September, there also was a record-high 26 applications asking to divide properties for future housing projects, the highest in three years.
By applying for permits last week, landowners locked in their proposed projects under the county’s older, more relaxed environmental rules.
Updated rules that better preserve streams, wetlands and lakes went into effect Monday. The rules lock up more land around fish-bearing streams and other areas, and can limit where landowners can build.
“An awful lot of people are nervous about it,” Ladiser said. “It’s a higher set of standards they have to meet.”
The state required that the county update the rules, which include analyzing environmental areas using the best available science.
Protections for wetlands are greater, and require setbacks from 25 feet to 300 feet. The old rules required setbacks of 25 to 100 feet, said Tom Rowe, a planning department division manager. Stream buffers are larger, too, and for the first time lakes are protected.
“Every time there’s a code change or a fee increase, you are going to see a spike like that,” Rowe said.
The county environmental rules were approved by the County Council in August, but they did not go into effect until Oct. 1 to allow training for county staff. State law required the rules be adopted by December 2004, but debates and analysis dragged on years longer than expected.
Landowners watched as the debate over the rules crept along for five years, said Mike Pattison of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties.
The new rules for wetlands and streams will mean fewer houses will be allowed on nearby properties, Pattison said. It’s a no-brainer that landowners would want to lock in their development choices under more forgiving rules.
“Say you’re allowed to pick 100 apples off your tree, and tomorrow there’s going to be a rule that you can pick 80. You’re going to go pick those apples today,” Pattison said. “The new rules, in many cases, mean your yields are going to be smaller. It’s simple economics.”
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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