Lewis County receives state grant to improve building permit process

Lewis County will receive roughly $75,000 from the Washington state Commerce Department to streamline the local building permit review process.

In an announcement Monday, the Commerce Department announced it would award $3 million to 16 cities and four counties, which will allow the local governments to establish a digital permitting process.

According to the Commerce Department, the revamp will reduce the time needed to approve new residential building permits.

“It will take solutions from all angles to address the projected need for more than a million new housing units in communities across Washington over the next 20 years,” Commerce Director Mike Fong said in a statement. “These grants will help modernize and streamline the way residential building permits are processed, reducing delays, cutting down on paperwork and helping us meet that urgent need for new housing.”

Lewis County received a $78,635 “paper to digital” grant, which supports “cities and counties in transitioning from paper filing to digital systems for processing permit applications.”

The grants are a product of the 2023 legislative session, which was dubbed the “Year of Housing” by lawmakers. Additional grants may be available in the future if appropriated by the Washington state Legislature.