Jefferson County Community Development is following guidance from our Board of County Commissioners, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH). Community Development Department recognizes that this is a stressful time for many, and want to continue to reassure you that your health, as well as the health of our employees and community members, remains a top priority. In an effort to slow the potential spread of COVID-19, the County is requesting all customers help limit person-to-person interaction.
EFFECTIVE WEDNESDAY 4:30PM 3/18/2020,
AND UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE,
DCD WILL BE CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC.
Although this limited customer interaction means we may not always be able to assist you in-person, please be assured that DCD will continue to accept applications and review and issue development permits, primarily through phone, email, and mail.
Starting immediately, DCD will modify the way our services are provided:
• Customer Assistance Meetings (CAMs) are still being held but we are asking customers to schedule the meeting to be over the phone or by email. You can schedule your meeting here: https://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/Facilities/Facility/Details/DCD-Staff-Consultations-3 or by calling our front desk at 360-379-4450.
• All pre-application meetings and customer assistance meetings (CAMs) have been postponed or converted to virtual meetings. If you have a scheduled meeting with staff and have not received communication about converting to a virtual meeting, please contact your assigned staff member for assistance. All new meeting requests will be held virtually or over the phone.
• Payments can be made with our secure online credit card system, you will need to have your parcel number or address available: https://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/617/Credit-Card-E-Check-Payments-for-Permits. Please mail checks here: 621 Sheridan St. Port Townsend, WA 98368. If you can only pay by cash please contact our Permitting Team for assistance at 360-379-4450.
• In-person permit Intake appointments are suspended. You can now submit your permit packet by email, or by mail. We will review your permit intake package and contact you with any additional information requirements or revisions. Please note, the applications will not be routed for review unless complete so please review our submittal checklists before turning in your items. Checklists required are Site Plan Checklist and Building submittal checklist. All other application documents are accessible here.
• You can also mail your applications to 621 Sheridan St., Port Townsend, WA 98368 or submit them via email to dcd@co.jefferson.wa.us. We do not have the ability to print out large size building plans so you will need to provide us with two sets in our new dropbox located in front of our office or by mail. Commercial project submittals must be electronic; please contact our office for a portal to submit them digitally.
• All permits will need to be paid in full prior to routing for review. Most applications have fees listed on them, if you are unsure how much you owe for your permit you can call us at 360-379-4450 or email dcd@co.jefferson.wa.us. For us to provide you with a fee estimate will need the information provided here: Permit Estimate. All remaining fees will be invoiced and will be required to be paid prior to permit issuance.
• Based on the recent Governor’s directive, most inspections will be suspended. “In general, commercial and residential construction is not authorized under the proclamation because construction is not considered to be an essential activity. The guidance memo can be found here. Inspections for essential public facilities and Single Family Residential emergency repairs will be performed at this time. Please continue to use the inspection hotline to schedule those inspections. You can check inspection progress here: https://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/582/Permit-Search-Tools. You can email your inspector with any questions.
We’d like to thank our customers for their flexibility and patience as we find new ways of providing services to our customers while reducing the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus.
We understand these service changes may be inconvenient and frustrating to our customers, but at this time Governor Inslee has issued a state-wide proclamation temporarily closing many public-facing businesses. DCD is doing what we can to mitigate risk to you and our staff. We hope by taking these steps we can help slow the spread of the virus in our community. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this unprecedented time.