Land Use / Master Use Permit - State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)

What Is It?

The State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) is legislation that allows local governments to identify and mitigate possible environmental impacts of certain projects.

You may need a SEPA review if your project involves:

  • new non-residential buildings
  • changes of use
  • grading
  • new parking
  • work in or subdivision of land partly covered by water

Areas of non-residential use projects may need SEPA review if they exceed:

  • 30,000 square feet for retail commercial uses, “sales and services” uses, and general and heavy manufacturing uses
  • 30,000 square feet for Institutional uses such as: child care and adult care centers, community centers, schools, colleges, hospitals, libraries, museums, religious facilities, institutes for advanced study, family support centers, and private clubs
  • 65,000 square feet for many other non-residential uses that are not retail commercial or institutional uses such as: offices, lodging, food processing and craft work, medical service clinics, laboratories, eating and drinking establishments, storage, and warehouse uses

You may not need SEPA review if your project is:

  • residential Development
  • mixed Use Development with residential use
  • SEPA Categorical Exemptions, SMC 25.05.800
  • Director's Rule 6-2026, Exemptions from State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Requirements

Our SEPA review is generally intended to cover impacts that occur as the result of the construction or operation of a project. When other codes are not sufficient or there are no codes to mitigate impacts, we can use SEPA to place limits on the developmental permit.

When completing SEPA review we will make a determination of significance or determination of non-significance based on the proposed impacts of your development. A determination of non-significance means your project may have impacts, but those impacts may be mitigated by conditions we placed on the project. If a project has received a determination of significance, then SEPA review will be completed through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS review process requires a number of additional process steps and review requirements.

Types of SEPA Review

If your project requires environmental review, we will review SEPA policies to identify the project impacts to the environment. SEPA policy may address impacts such as:

  • height, bulk, and scale
  • transportation
  • historic landmarks

Other City departments or other government agencies may conduct SEPA review for their own proposals. In those cases, our role is to apply Seattle SEPA policies to see if additional conditions are needed based on the impacts that were identified. This could occur with the Master Use Permit (MUP) or with the building permit, depending on whether we require other MUP approvals.

  • Director’s Rule 19-2018, Determining if two or more development proposals are considered as one for applying State Environmental Policy Act categorical exemptions and Design Review thresholds.
  • Want to learn more about the land use process? Review our land use permit infographic for a step-by-step guide.

How Much Does It Cost?

We charge an hourly review fee based on our Fee Subtitle. You need to pay a minimum fee when you submit your land use application. After we accept your application, we will send you a monthly invoice for all review time completed in that billing cycle. If you do not pay your invoice, we will stop reviewing your project. All fees are subject to an additional technology fee. See our Fee Subtitle for details.

How Long Does It Take?

SEPA environmental review may take up to several months for our review and a written decision. How long it takes us to complete our review of your proposal depends on several factors, including:

  • complexity of your proposal
  • whether environmental impact statement is required
  • quality of your plans and project documentation
  • timely response to correction letters and requests for further information
  • public interest

Steps to Get Your Permit

Find your property information. Research your site to help you plan your project.

Determine standards for your project. Research the Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) to determine standards that will apply to your proposal.

Attend a coaching session. We offer 20 minutes of free video coaching through our SDCI Services page to answer drainage, land use, geotechnical, or construction permit questions. If you need a longer coaching session, we offer paid one-hour sessions.

Start your application. Complete the Building & Land Use Pre-Application online using the Seattle Service Portal. You will need to answer questions about your proposal and upload a site plan. You'll receive an email once we have added the pre-application site visit (PASV) fees to your project. (Most projects require a PASV.) After you have paid the fee, we will perform the site visit. Your preliminary application information will be reviewed by other departments for comment on how the project relates to their department.

Review your preliminary application report. You will receive a preliminary application report that will include critical information about whether you need Design Review, SEPA, or street improvements. Our report will include information from the utilities about your specific site and proposal.

Request a pre-submittal conference. We recommend pre-submittal conferences for complex projects, including work in environmentally critical areas or shorelines. You must pay a minimum two hour pre-submittal conference fee before we schedule your appointment. We might charge additional hourly fees based on the number of City staff attending the conference, and the amount of follow-up time required.

Apply for exemptions. You may be eligible for exemptions from code or permitting requirements if your project is located in an environmentally critical area or near the shoreline. You need to apply for and resolve any exemption requests during the preliminary application process before you submit your permit application. Submit your exemption requests using the Seattle Services Portal.

Coordinate with other agencies. You may need permits or approvals from other agencies. These are the most common agencies you may need to work with for your permit type:

Prepare your plans and technical documents. Your plans should be to scale. You may need to upload technical documents including a survey, geotechnical and wetland reports, transportation-related reports, and other types of reports. Our Tips and code standards provide additional detail on the type of plans and reports we require to review your proposal.

Schedule an intake appointment. Schedule an intake appointment using the Seattle Services Portal. You must upload all application documents by 7 AM on the day of your appointment. You don’t need to come to our office for your appointment. However, you do need to be available for questions. We may call or email you on your appointment day for more information.

Pay fees. You must pay a minimum fee for your review, any accrued land use hourly fees, and intake and notice fees at intake. You will receive an email once we have added fees to your project. You must pay your fees using your portal before we will post any public notice or conduct any reviews. We will invoice you monthly for additional fees during the review process. We will stop reviewing your project if you do not pay your monthly invoice. After fees are paid, we will complete public notice as required for your type of project. Then we commence the initial review.

Wait for public notice. We will issue a public notice for your project as required by SMC 23.76.012. If required, SDCI is responsible for installing a large public notice sign. This sign must remain in place until the end of the appeal period or the Hearing Examiner's decision, if applicable.

We'll consider all public comments we receive during our review and before we publish our decision.

Make corrections and resubmit your plans. Once all of our reviews are done, you will receive an email telling you that corrected and/or additional documents can be uploaded into your portal. Your project may require multiple correction rounds before our reviews are complete.

Pay outstanding fees. Once our review is complete, you will get an email for any outstanding fees. You must pay these fees in your portal before we publish our decision.

Read our decision. We will publish our decision on your project in our Seattle Services Portal. We will also send a notice of our decision to you and everybody that submitted a public comment on your project. Our decision will include any required conditions of approval, some that you must meet before we issue your permit.

Submit an appeal. If you or a member of the public disagree with our decision, you may file an appeal with the Seattle Hearing Examiner within 14 days from when we publish our decision.

Pay final fees. We will notify you if you need to pay any final fees in your portal before we issue your permit.

Print your permit. We will notify you when we have issued your permit and the documents are available in your portal.

Note the expiration date. The expiration date of your permit is based on the date of the end of the appeal or the City Hearing Examiner decision. Your permit may expire six years from issuance, and therefore, your application may expire without having a construction permit issued.

You may apply for a construction permit at any time once you submit a land use application. However, the project can change and evolve through the land use application review process. Corrections required by our decision may require building plan changes that can result in costly design changes.

Construction and Inspections

Sam Steele, Interim Director
Address: 700 5th Ave, Suite 2000, Seattle, WA, 98104
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 34019, Seattle, WA, 98124-4019
Phone: (206) 684-8600
Phone Alt: Violation Complaint Line: (206) 615-0808
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SDCI issues land use, construction, and trade permits, conducts construction and housing-related inspections, ensures compliance with our codes, and regulates rental rules. SDCI is committed to an antiracist workplace and to addressing racism through our work in the community.