stormwater / drainage permit requirements across 10 verified Seattle-area cities
Side-by-side: which of Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, Issaquah, Renton, Kent, Federal Way, and Mercer Island require a permit for a stormwater / drainage, what triggers one, what it costs, and how long review takes. Verified against each city's own page; sources cited per row.
8 of 10 cities have authoritative rules on file · 8 typically require a permit · 0 often do not.
King County
| Jurisdiction | Permit? | Threshold | Fee | Review days | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
City of Bellevue city | Yes | KC Surface Water Design Manual 2021 (KCC 9.04 + adopted by reference in most KC cities) sets the 2,000 sqft new+replaced impervious threshold for "small project" drainage review; ≥5,000 sqft triggers full drainage review. Different thresholds in critical-area drainage basins. | Drainage review fee commonly tiered by project size; small project ~$300-$800, full drainage review $1,500+. Apply via https://mybuildingpermit.com. | — | Cite verified 2026-04-26 |
City of Federal Way city | Yes | KC Surface Water Design Manual 2021 (KCC 9.04 + adopted by reference in most KC cities) sets the 2,000 sqft new+replaced impervious threshold for "small project" drainage review; ≥5,000 sqft triggers full drainage review. Different thresholds in critical-area drainage basins. | Drainage review fee commonly tiered by project size; small project ~$300-$800, full drainage review $1,500+. Apply via https://mybuildingpermit.com. Apply via MyBuildingPermit.com. | — | Cite verified 2026-04-26 |
City of Issaquah city | Yes | KC Surface Water Design Manual 2021 (KCC 9.04 + adopted by reference in most KC cities) sets the 2,000 sqft new+replaced impervious threshold for "small project" drainage review; ≥5,000 sqft triggers full drainage review. Different thresholds in critical-area drainage basins. | Drainage review fee commonly tiered by project size; small project ~$300-$800, full drainage review $1,500+. Apply via https://mybuildingpermit.com. Apply via MyBuildingPermit.com. | — | Cite verified 2026-04-26 |
City of Kent city | Yes | KC Surface Water Design Manual 2021 (KCC 9.04 + adopted by reference in most KC cities) sets the 2,000 sqft new+replaced impervious threshold for "small project" drainage review; ≥5,000 sqft triggers full drainage review. Different thresholds in critical-area drainage basins. | Drainage review fee commonly tiered by project size; small project ~$300-$800, full drainage review $1,500+. Apply via https://kentwa.gov/permits. Kent uses MyKent permits portal. | — | Cite verified 2026-04-26 |
City of Kirkland city | Yes | KC Surface Water Design Manual 2021 (KCC 9.04 + adopted by reference in most KC cities) sets the 2,000 sqft new+replaced impervious threshold for "small project" drainage review; ≥5,000 sqft triggers full drainage review. Different thresholds in critical-area drainage basins. | Drainage review fee commonly tiered by project size; small project ~$300-$800, full drainage review $1,500+. Apply via https://mybuildingpermit.com. Apply via MyBuildingPermit.com. | — | Cite verified 2026-04-26 |
City of Mercer Island city | Pending verification | — | — | — | Portal |
City of Redmond city | Yes | KC Surface Water Design Manual 2021 (KCC 9.04 + adopted by reference in most KC cities) sets the 2,000 sqft new+replaced impervious threshold for "small project" drainage review; ≥5,000 sqft triggers full drainage review. Different thresholds in critical-area drainage basins. | Drainage review fee commonly tiered by project size; small project ~$300-$800, full drainage review $1,500+. Apply via https://eplans.redmond.gov. Redmond uses ePlans portal. | — | Cite verified 2026-04-26 |
City of Renton city | Yes | KC Surface Water Design Manual 2021 (KCC 9.04 + adopted by reference in most KC cities) sets the 2,000 sqft new+replaced impervious threshold for "small project" drainage review; ≥5,000 sqft triggers full drainage review. Different thresholds in critical-area drainage basins. | Drainage review fee commonly tiered by project size; small project ~$300-$800, full drainage review $1,500+. Apply via https://permits.rentonwa.gov. Renton uses TRAKiT permits portal. | — | Cite verified 2026-04-26 |
City of Sammamish city | Yes | KC Surface Water Design Manual 2021 (KCC 9.04 + adopted by reference in most KC cities) sets the 2,000 sqft new+replaced impervious threshold for "small project" drainage review; ≥5,000 sqft triggers full drainage review. Different thresholds in critical-area drainage basins. | Drainage review fee commonly tiered by project size; small project ~$300-$800, full drainage review $1,500+. Apply via https://mybuildingpermit.com. Apply via MyBuildingPermit.com. | — | Cite verified 2026-04-26 |
City of Seattle city | Pending verification | — | — | — | Portal |
How this table is built
Each row reflects the most-recently-verified authoritative rule on file for that jurisdiction and project type. “Pending verification” means we have the jurisdiction in our database but haven't yet personally checked the city page for stormwater / drainage rules — those rows fall back to county or WA-state baselines until verified. Sources link directly to the city or county page we read on the verified-on date. See our data-quality leaderboard for how we keep these current.
