SB 6461’s stated intent is to bring predictability to the local government land use development permit process. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Phil Fortunato (R–Auburn), intends to make the process more efficient by making the following changes:

• Process permits requiring a quasi-judicial hearing in 120 days
• Process all other administrative permits in 90 days
• Applications that include more than one type of permit trigger a longer review time
• Local governments may adopt an ordinance allowing longer timelines for complex permit types
• Permit applications that exceed the timelines will default to approved
• Sets up parameters on which activities count towards the timeline
• Local governments cannot compel application extensions or deny the application based solely on inability to meet the timeline
• Local governments are required to report annually to the Department of Commerce on how many permit applications defaulted to approval

We anticipate cities will have concerns with this bill and would like to get feedback on the specific ways this presents problems on implementation.

Dates to remember

SB 6461 is scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Local Government Committee at 8 am on Thursday, January 23.