Buying Land or Building in Kitsap? What the Permit Timeline Debate Means for Your Project

ByKristel Daugherty

If you’re planning to buy land or build in Kitsap County, permit timelines are probably already on your mind. They came up again on November 2, 2026, when the Kitsap County Commissioners’ Office heard from the Kitsap Building Association (KBA) and the county’s Department of Community Development (DCD) about how long permit reviews are taking. Both sides want predictable timelines. They just read the numbers differently.

I went through what was said, checked it against the public record, and pulled out what matters if you have a parcel, a plan and a deadline. This isn’t legal advice, and every project is different. My goal is to help you ask the right questions up front and build some breathing room into your schedule.

What state law says about review clocks

Washington’s 2023 permit reform, SB 5290, rewrote parts of the Local Project Review Act. Most of it took effect July 23, 2023, and the new review deadlines apply to applications submitted after January 1, 2025 (MRSC summary).

Under RCW 36.70B.080, the clock starts the day the county determines your application is complete. The default deadlines are:

  • 65 days for permits that don’t need public notice
  • 100 days for permits that need public notice
  • 170 days for permits that need notice and a public hearing

The fine print matters. These are calendar days. The clock stops while the county waits on information, fees or notices from you, or if you ask to pause review. And if you go more than 60 days without responding, the county can get 30 more days.

Plats run on a separate, older rule. RCW 58.17.140 calls for preliminary plats to be decided within 90 days, and final plats and short plats within 30 days. So one of your first questions should be which rule applies to your project.

If the county misses a deadline, it refunds part of the permit fee: 10% for a short delay and 20% for a longer one. But a county that has adopted at least three of the optional “further project review” measures in RCW 36.70B.160 generally (with some exceptions) doesn’t owe those refunds, so don’t plan around getting one.

Each year, counties like Kitsap report their permit timelines to the state, and the Department of Commerce publishes a statewide report (Commerce).

One more law to know about: HB 2418 took effect June 11, 2026. It treats completeness checks as procedural and requires local governments to name a single point of contact for residential permit applications. Local ordinances are due by June 30, 2027 (Commerce newsletter).

What the state report shows

I haven’t gone through the full Commerce report yet, so these numbers come from a summary by BIAW, the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW summary of Commerce’s 2025 report). BIAW is a builders’ trade group, so treat these figures as secondhand.

According to BIAW, 50 of the 51 jurisdictions required to report for 2025 did so, and statewide median review times improved over 2024. For Kitsap County, BIAW reports that 40 of 46 decisions, about 87%, went past the applicable deadline.

BIAW also notes that the 2025 report counts fewer permits than 2024 because building permits are no longer included. In other words, these numbers measure one slice of the process, not your whole project.

What the builders asked for

Speaking for local builders, KBA asked the county to:

  • commit to the 65/100/170-day timelines, counted from completeness
  • share which optional measures in RCW 36.70B.160 the county has adopted
  • assign one project manager per project, with consolidated review
  • use on-call consultant reviewers
  • limit reviews to two cycles and review parts of a project in parallel
  • publish a quarterly dashboard and form a working group
  • align stormwater rules with the state Department of Ecology
  • hold fees steady in 2027

KBA also said 46 projects had been reviewed separately rather than together. I couldn’t verify that number on my own.

What the county said

DCD’s director said the “41 of 46” figure (BIAW’s summary says 40 of 46) can be misleading, because SB 5290’s deadlines only apply to applications from 2025 forward. According to the director, Kitsap is meeting the deadlines on all four of the 2025 applications the director cited. The director also said:

  • older permits from 2020 to 2022 will be cleared by the end of this year
  • 2027 numbers should be in compliance
  • as a courtesy, the county accepts final plats before site development is complete
  • new permit software is about two years out

The county’s public statements back that up. Its 2025 performance report says older, longer-running permits from before its new review model was fully in place pull the averages up, and that projects handled under the new model are meeting statutory timelines (news release). That model, called 2×6, uses two six-week review cycles (county presentation). The county also caps reviews at two cycles, with an optional third for minor corrections if a supervisor approves (county release).

What the commissioners said

The commissioners asked for 2025 and 2026 data and said they would look into the stormwater differences KBA raised. They may take a closer look at fees and at the idea of a moratorium, but they made no commitments. They also acknowledged that things are much better than they were four years ago.

Proposed code updates

Separately, the county has proposed its annual round of “housekeeping” code edits. A Board of County Commissioners hearing was scheduled for October 26, and DCD expects adoption next week. Until then, these are proposals, not law (county code-edits page). Two items in the June 16 version of the county’s change matrix are worth knowing about:

  • Co-living would be added to the definition of “group living,” following a 2024 state law.
  • Tree canopy rules would be clarified to apply to commercial uses as well as residential, and an example in the rules would be corrected.

The matrix has several smaller items too. If your project touches any of them, check the final ordinance after the vote.

Planning to buy land or build? Here's what you control

Whichever side you find more convincing, these are the parts in your hands.

Before you make an offer

  • Find out which permits the project will likely need, and in what order. Land use, site development, building, septic or sewer, critical areas and stormwater can all come into play.
  • Look up the specific parcel. The county’s intake checklist guide explains that your portal application generates a list of required documents based on your property and project.
  • Ask for a longer feasibility period. Land usually needs more time than a house, and I can help you decide how much to ask for.
  • Bring in a local civil engineer or designer early. A complete first submittal is the biggest thing you control.

When you apply

  • A complete application is what starts the clock. Use the county’s intake checklist and ask about a pre-application meeting.
  • Respond quickly. Time the county spends waiting on you doesn’t count against its clock, and long silences can add time.
  • Under RCW 36.70B.080, the county can’t require or even ask you to agree to extend a deadline when you first submit. If you agree to an extension later, make sure it’s your choice, and get it in writing.
  • Once you’re in review, the county’s permit status dashboard shows where your application sits.

Plan your calendar and budget

  • Treat the deadlines as targets, not promises. Add a buffer to your loan, rate-lock and move-in dates.
  • Budget for carrying costs like taxes, interest and temporary housing. If you’re building as an investment, every extra month in review is another month of holding costs before the property earns anything.
  • Have a Plan B for housing, like an extended lease or a short-term rental.
  • Intake screening, the step before an application is accepted as complete, may not show up in the official count, as BIAW notes. Ask the county how long that step is taking right now.

For more planning help, see How Long Does It Take to Build on Land in Kitsap County?, Washington’s New Permit Timeline Laws, Buying Land, Waterfront, or Rural Property in Kitsap County and, if an accessory unit is part of your plan, Kitsap County ADU Rules.

The bottom line

Builders and the county both want predictable timelines. Statewide numbers improved, and the county says its new review model is meeting timelines. What you control is a complete application, early questions and a realistic calendar. If you’re looking at a piece of land, call or text me at 360-317-0113. I’m happy to walk through the permits it might need and put together a timeline that fits your plans.

Sources

Kristel Daugherty, Managing Broker | Revival Realty LLC | 360-317-0113
Equal Housing Opportunity

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