Clearing and grading permit in SeaTac, Washington

When you need this permit

• SMC 13.190.040: “No person shall do any clearing or grading without first having obtained a clearing and grading permit from the Director, unless it meets one (1) of the exception criteria identified in SMC 13.190.045 and meets all of the conditions identified below”.
• THE EXEMPTION IS CONJUNCTIVE AND IS EASY TO READ BACKWARDS. You are outside the permit only if you meet one of the 13.190.045 criteria AND all three conditions: the project “includes less than seven thousand (7,000) square feet of land disturbing activity”; the chapter's performance and restoration requirements are met with best management practices protecting water quality; and “The activity does not occur in a sensitive area or its buffer regulated under SMC Title 15.” Failing any one of the three puts you back inside the permit.
• LIABILITY INSURANCE IS A CONDITION OF THE PERMIT, NOT A FEE, AND THE CITY MUST BE NAMED ON IT. SMC 13.190.080: the permittee “shall maintain a liability policy in an amount not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per individual, five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per occurrence, and one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) property damage, and shall name City of SeaTac as an additional insured.” The requirement “may be waived for projects involving less than ten thousand (10,000) cubic yards”, and does not apply to City departments. These are coverage limits payable by an insurer, not sums payable to the city.
• SMC 13.190.150 authorises the Director to require performance and maintenance bonds on work under a permit covered by this title, and allows separate bonds to be combined into one — “at no time shall the amount thus bonded be less than the total amount which would have been required in the form of separate bonds”. No bond amount is published in the chapter. A bond is security, not a fee.
• Erosion and sediment control is required of any site-disturbing activity “whether requiring a clearing or grading permit or not” under SMC 13.190.090.
• Clearing and grading permits tied to a subdivision, and other projects that are not new buildings or additions, may be extended once for up to twelve months under SMC 13.100.060(K)(3).
• Land clearing including grubbing started without a permit draws the investigation fee at SMC 13.100.070(C).
• THE APPLICATION HAS ITS OWN CLOCK, SEPARATE FROM THE PERMIT'S. SMC 13.100.060(H): an application for which no permit issues within eighteen months “shall expire by limitation”; separately it expires for inactivity if the applicant “fails to respond to the Department's written request for revisions, corrections, or additional information within ninety (90) days of the date of request”. The 90-day response period can be extended on an approved schedule, but the code is explicit that doing so “shall not extend the time limitation of the application” — the two clocks do not merge. Tolling is available for a cumulative maximum of 180 days: 90 days where a land use approval must come first, or 180 where issuance waits on a related construction permit, or on both. A separate one-time 30-day extension exists only “for the purpose of paying fees, submitting required paperwork, and posting financial sureties”.