Chapter 12.10
PERMITS
Sections:
12.10.010 Review by department of community development.
12.10.030 Site development activity permits required.
12.10.050 Permit requirements.
12.10.060 Professional engineer required.
12.10.070 Downstream analysis.
12.10.080 Geotechnical analysis.
12.10.100 Permit modifications.
12.10.010 Review by department of community development.
All proposed site development activities shall be reviewed by the Kitsap County department of community development to determine the permits required.
(Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)
12.10.030 Site development activity permits required.
A site development activity permit, issued by the Kitsap County department of community development, shall be required for any of the following activities:
(1) Site development or redevelopment activities that meet the thresholds requiring minimum requirements Nos. 1 through 9 to be met, as indicated by Figures I-4.1 and I-4.2 in Section 12.20.010;
(2) Site development or redevelopment activities that require connection to a public stormwater drainage system, except those actions undertaken by the Kitsap County public works department;
(3) Grading activities that result in the movement of one hundred fifty cubic yards or more of earth;
(4) Grading activities that will result in a temporary or permanent slope having a steepness exceeding three to one (three feet horizontal to one foot vertical) and having a total slope height, measured vertically from toe of slope to top of slope, exceeding five feet;
(5) Grading activities that include the construction of embankment berms which will result in the impoundment of water to a depth exceeding eighteen inches and/or with a maximum volume exceeding two thousand five hundred cubic feet of water;
(6) Grading activities that will result in the diversion of existing drainage courses, both natural and manmade, from their natural point of entry or exit from the grading site;
(7) Any land clearing or grading on slopes steeper than thirty percent, or within the mandatory setback of a steep slope, wetland, stream, lake, or Puget Sound, as established by other titles of this code.
No site development activity, including land clearing, grading or other construction activity as described in this title, shall occur until a site development activity permit has been issued, nor shall said site development activity continue without a site development activity permit in force.
(Ord. 599 (2021) § 30, 2021; Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)
12.10.040 Exemptions.
The following activities shall not require a site development activity permit:
(1) Commercial Agriculture. Commercial agriculture practices involving working the land for production are generally exempt. However, the conversion from timber land to agriculture and the construction of impervious surfaces are not exempt.
(2) Grading. Grading activities described in Section 12.16.070 are exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
(3) Forest Practices. Forest practices regulated under WAC Title 222, except for Class IV general forest practices that are conversions from timber land to other uses, are exempt from the provisions of the minimum requirements.
(4) Road Maintenance. The following road maintenance practices are exempt from minimum requirements: pothole and square cut patching, overlaying existing asphalt or concrete pavement with asphalt or concrete without expanding the area of coverage, shoulder grading, reshaping/regrading drainage systems, crack sealing, resurfacing with in-kind material without expanding the road prism, pavement preservation activities that do not expand the road prism, and vegetation maintenance.
The following road maintenance practices are exempt only outside a census-defined urban area or an urban growth area, but are not exempt when within a census-defined urban area or an urban growth area:
(A) Removing and replacing an asphalt or concrete pavement to base course or lower, or repairing the roadway base. These are considered replaced hard surfaces. If impervious surfaces are not expanded, the minimum requirements Nos. 1 through 5 of the Ecology Manual apply. However, in most cases, only minimum requirement No. 2, construction stormwater pollution prevention, will be germane.
(B) Extending the pavement edge without increasing the size of the road prism, or paving graveled shoulders. These are considered new hard surfaces and are subject to the minimum requirements that are triggered when the thresholds identified for redevelopment projects are met.
(C) Resurfacing by upgrading from dirt to gravel, a bituminous surface treatment (“chip seal”), asphalt, or concrete; upgrading from gravel to chip seal, asphalt, or concrete; or upgrading from chip seal to asphalt or concrete. These are considered new impervious surfaces and are subject to the minimum requirements that are triggered when the thresholds identified for redevelopment projects are met.
(5) Underground Utilities. Underground utility projects that replace the ground surface with in-kind material or materials with similar runoff characteristics are only subject to minimum requirement No. 2, construction stormwater pollution prevention.
(Ord. 599 (2021) §§ 31, 53, 2021; Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)
12.10.050 Permit requirements.
No site development activity permit shall be issued unless the applicant has satisfied the following criteria:
(1) Compliance with all applicable regulations, including Title 12, and compliance with the standards, specifications and requirements contained in the Kitsap manual.
(2) Payment of the applicable permit fees established by the county in Section 21.10.010.
(Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)
12.10.055 Permit duration.
(1) Approved but Not Issued. Except as provided in Section 12.16.110, site development activity permits must be issued within three hundred sixty-five days of permit application approval, and will automatically expire at the end of three hundred sixty-five days unless an extension is granted by the director. The length of extension period shall not exceed three hundred sixty-five days, and no more than two extensions shall be granted. At the end of the extension period, the permit will be automatically closed if it is still unissued. A closed permit may not be reissued or reactivated.
(2) Issued. Issued site development activity permits shall become invalid unless the work authorized by such permit is commenced within three hundred sixty-five days after its issuance, or if after commencing, the work authorized by such permit is suspended or abandoned for a period of three hundred sixty-five days. Having required inspections performed and approved within every three hundred sixty-five days is evidence that work has commenced and is continuing. Permits that do not receive a required inspection within three hundred sixty-five days of permit issuance, or within three hundred sixty-five days since the previous approved inspection, will be considered abandoned and shall automatically expire. If no action is taken within one hundred eighty days of the expiration date by the applicant/owner to reactivate the permit or request an extension, the permit will be closed. A closed permit may not be reissued or reactivated.
(3) Extensions. The procedures for requesting and granting extensions or renewals to permits and procedures for the disposition of inactive or expired permits shall be detailed in the Kitsap manual.
(Ord. 550 (2018) § 4, 2018: Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)
12.10.060 Professional engineer required.
Unless otherwise required by Chapter 12.16, site development activity permit applications shall require the submittal of documents prepared by a qualified professional engineer when one of the following conditions exists:
(1) Any land use, building, or development on real property that meets the thresholds requiring minimum requirements Nos. 1 through 9 to be met, as indicated by Figures I-4.1 and I-4.2 in Section 12.20.010; or
(2) Any improvements within the boundaries of Kitsap County rights-of-way for which Kitsap County will ultimately assume responsibility for maintenance; or
(3) Any site development activity that the director deems to be in the public’s best interest to require that certain site development activity permit application submittal documents be prepared by a professional civil engineer;
(4) Whenever an engineer is required by the Kitsap manual, including but not limited to design of conveyance, on-site stormwater management, flow control, and runoff treatment BMPs.
(Ord. 599 (2021) §§ 32, 53, 2021; Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)
12.10.070 Downstream analysis.
The following projects shall conduct an analysis of downstream water quantity and quality impacts resulting from the project and shall provide for mitigation of these impacts:
(1) All site development activity permit applications that meet any of the criteria listed in Section 12.10.060;
(2) All large projects in accordance with the definition in Chapter 12.08;
(3) All project sites located within critical drainage areas;
(4) All projects that implement TDAs.
The analysis shall extend a minimum of one-fourth of a mile downstream from the project. The existing or potential impacts to be evaluated and mitigated shall include excessive sedimentation, erosion, discharges to groundwater contributing or recharge zones, violations of water quality standards, and spills and discharges of priority pollutants. The downstream analysis shall include, along with other required submittal documents, an off-site drainage analysis prepared by a qualified professional engineer in accordance with the requirements of the Kitsap manual.
(Ord. 599 (2021) §§ 33, 53, 2021; Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)
12.10.080 Geotechnical analysis.
All site development activity permit applications for development activities where grading or the construction of retention facilities, detention facilities, or other stormwater facilities is proposed within two hundred feet of slopes steeper than thirty percent, or where the director deems that the proposed construction poses a potential hazard due to its proximity to a slope, shall, when required by the director, include a geotechnical analysis, prepared by a professional geotechnical engineer or licensed engineering geologist. The geotechnical analysis requirements vary depending on the amount of impervious area infiltrated on the project site and shall include a map of investigation and testing locations, soil characteristics, and depth to groundwater (if encountered), at a minimum. The geotechnical analysis may also require groundwater monitoring, characterization of infiltration receptor, groundwater mounding and seepage analysis, groundwater interception and infiltration, seepage, potential slip planes and changes in soil bearing strength.
(Ord. 599 (2021) §§ 34, 53, 2021; Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)
12.10.090 Soils analysis.
All site development activity permit applications that meet any of the following criteria shall include a soils investigation report, meeting the requirements provided in the Kitsap manual:
(1) Listed in Section 12.10.060; or
(2) As required by the Kitsap manual; or
(3) Where the soils underlying the proposed project have not been mapped; or
(4) Where existing soils maps of the project site are inconsistent; or
(5) Where the director deems that existing soils maps of the project site are not of sufficient resolution to allow proper engineering analysis.
(Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)
12.10.100 Permit modifications.
Proposed modifications to an issued site development activity permit must be submitted to the department of community development and be reviewed for compliance with this title. Substantial proposed modifications, as determined by the director, shall require additional review fees and shall require reissuance of the required permit. Minor proposed modifications may be accepted by the director without requiring the reissuance of the accepted permit or the payment of additional review fees.
(Ord. 540 (2016) § 4 (Att. 1) (part), 2016)