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Environmental Services Dept. Has New Formal Procedure for Interpreting County Codes

SEATTLE, WA-The result of a citizen lawsuit over King County's lack of a formal procedure for interpreting codes is a new process that could clutter the Department of Development and Environmental Services.

By Janet Parker | Updated on January 31, 2001

SEATTLE, WA-As the result of a lawsuit filed by a group called “The Friends of Cherry Valley”, the King County Superior Court ordered the Department of Development and Environmental Services here to adopt a formal procedure for requests for interpretation of land use codes. The court had ruled in the case that the DDES did not comply with a state law requiring such a process, and it had until February 5th to get one in place. King County now has a new ordinance and procedure.

Harry Reinert, who is responsible for the DDES’ legislative issues, tells GlobeSt that previously such requests were handled informally and at no charge. Now, having a code interpreted comes bundled in red tape that could significantly increase the number of man hours necessary to fulfill the ordinance.

Reinert says the new process could take several hours just to get the preliminary paper work in order before the department even begins to delve into the substantive issues. The new $250 fee for such a request is likely to not even come close to covering the expense to the county in handling interpretation requests.

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