The Washington State Department of Commerce has awarded $70,000 to the Snohomish County Health Department to help it expedite reviews of on-site septic systems for new homes.
The Health Department was one of eight local government agencies awarded grants totaling $475,000. The grants will pay for new permitting software, digital application systems and AI tools that check whether an application is complete before it’s submitted.
“We urgently need more housing, and we need to make it easier to build,” said Commerce Interim Director Sarah Clifthorne in a news release. “These grants will help communities speed up permitting review and help get more homes built.”
According to the Commerce Department, Washington needs to add more than 1 million homes by 2044 to keep pace with expected population growth. Permit delays are a known bottleneck in housing production. Incomplete applications, repeated rounds of corrections and outdated software can add weeks or months to the process. These grants are part of Commerce’s broader work to speed up housing production.
In Snohomish County, the Health Department reviews permits for onsite septic systems for new homes. Residential development applications are typically submitted electronically to the County Planning and Development Services Department, which then transfers information about onsite septic systems to the Health Department.
The process, however, requires significant manual effort because the two departments’ systems are not integrated. Re-entering application data increases staff workload, creates opportunities for errors and delays permit processing.
“The Health Department has been operating with an aging software system that is no longer able to keep up with technology and the changing expectations of our customers,” said Ragina Gray, director of the department’s Environmental Health Division. “We’re upgrading to a new software package that will streamline online applications, provide greater access to data, and better integrate application materials with the county’s Planning and Development Services Department. This should decrease wait times by helping our staff process applications more efficiently and by making the application process easier.”
The new software, known as the Accela Civic Application platform, will automate the transfer of application data so reviews can start sooner. It will also allow the department to identify workflow bottlenecks and make ongoing improvements to the permitting process. The Commerce grant dollars will help fund the cost of putting the Accela platform into place. The platform should be ready early next year.
Other grant recipients were Pierce County and the cities of Tacoma, Bellevue, Lacey, Ridgefield, Tumwater and Yakima. Commerce received 60 applications.
Source: Snohomish County Health Department
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
