Our Services

SBN Planning meets clients where they are, whether they need help with a discrete project, on-call planning to support local governments, or stewarding long-range planning initiatives. We specialize in legislative review, integrating new legislation into policy and public regulations, defining requirements, and helping clients to access funding mechanisms. 

We assist private developers in navigating complex, nuanced development projects and feasibility assessments. This includes how new legislation and regulations impact private development processes from project approval through implementation

Contact

For specific project examples see our Portfolio.

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On-Call Planning Work

    • Tracking Current and upcoming Legislature

    • Legislative review and summary

    • Legislative gap analysis

    • Tailored Implementation

    • Presentations to Elected officials

    • Alternatives and Compliance Strategy

    • Concise interpretations

    • Model ordinance review and revisions

    • Development regulation updates

    • Building Permit Review - Land use and Zoning

    • Variances

    • SEPA Administration

    • Shoreline (SMP) Administration

    • Code revisions

    • Template and form updates

    • Standards updates and creation

    • Public Hearings

    • Noticing

    • Development Regulation Gap Analysis

    • GIS Services Technical mapping

    • Demographic and Civic Analytics

    • Storymaps and Data Storytelling

    • Interactive Visualizations

    • Site utilization analysis

    • Canopy Analysis

    • Graphic communication and visualizations

    • Community survey design

    • Community open house/event planning 

    • Public hearing presentations

    • Public meeting agendas, packet materials, and presentations

    • Printed and digital outreach material design

    • Public hearings

    • Noticing and OPMA compliance

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Comprehensive Plan Updates

  • Town of Eatonville

    • Housing needs assessment and land capacity analysis

    • Compliant development regulation review

    • SEPA and Environmental Review 

    Town of Yarrow Point

    • Full plan rewrite for compliance and concurrency 

    • Housing needs assessment and land capacity analysis

    • Work plan for development regulation and functional plan concurrency

    • SEPA and Environmental Review 

    City of Lake Stevens

    • Community survey, digital engagement, and event planning  

    • Updating land capacity analysis

    City of Vader

    • Housing needs assessment and land capacity analysis

    • Development Regulation Review

    • Community survey and Engagement

    • Concurrency updates

    • Regulatory Review Gap analysis of Department of Commerce, PSRC, and County requirements for plan elements 

    • Public Engagement Community-responsive and adaptive engagement for actionable planning outcomes

    • Element Analyses and Updates Conducting relevant policy and quantitiative research and drafting updates for jurisdiction staff or official reviews 

    • Climate Change Adaptive Planning Developing community-focused policies for climate change resilience and adaptation

    • Housing Needs Assessment Assessing community, housing, and policy conditions to develop a compliant assessment in support of long range planning

    • Land Capacity Analysis Analyzing existing and alternate land use conditions’ capacities for housing, employment, and population 

    • Plan Implementation & Development Regulations Assess concurrency and compliance to develop future workplans, prioirites, and draft 

    • Project Management Lead and coordinate with other jurisdiction consultants, plan meetings with regional partners, and collaborate with municipal staff to guide the plan through the jurisdiction’s channels for adoption. 

    • Plan Prepatation and Adoption Conduct all relevant hearings, environemtnal reviews, andnoticing for final adoption.

    • Large and Small-Scale Event Design and facilitation

    • Workshop Facilitation

    • Community Stakeholder Engagement and Focus Groups

    • Public Surveys

    • Engagement Plans and Program Charters

    • Poster, Mailer, and Printed Materials Design

Section of a topographical survey map with elevation contours, boundary lines, and annotations indicating slopes and buffers.

Private Development

    • Property Owners

    • Commercial and residential development groups

    • Design build firms

    • Civil Engineers

    • Real estate agents

    • Architects

    • Contractors

    • Surveyors

    • Transportation Specialists

    • Ecologists

  • We work with our clients and their teams to get projects from concept to reality. We provide services for:

    • Single Family Homes

    • Accessory Dwellings (ADUs and DADUs)

    • Accessory Development/Buildings

    • Shoreline Exemptions

    • Shoreline Substantial Development

    • Subdivisions

    • Short Plats

    • Boundary Line Adjustment

    • Lot Consolidation

    • Zoning Changes

    • Zoning Variances

    • Shoreline Variances

    • Shoreline Substantial Development Permitting

    • Municipal Code Update Recommendations

    • Comprehensive Plan Amendments


    • Residential Feasibility As a service provided to both property owners and built environments professionals, we facilitate our clients making informed decisions with their properties. We excel at helping complex projects be as streamlined as possible which minimizes cost and makes your project a reality. Our aim is to help property owners and industry professionals maximize their time and resources while getting the most out of your investment.

    • Commercial Feasibility High-level project scoping and development team management. We aid our clients in creating and managing an effective team of professionals. Our team reviews and facilitates the land use, zoning, and permitting requirements being met while providing expertise in public engagement, presentations, and long range planning requirements for complex development projects.

    • Pre-Sale Feasibility Are you or your client looking to understand what can be developed on a given property? Our team can help you understand what hurdles you and your design team will need to go through in order to make your project a reality. We work closely with real estate agents and prospective buyers to understand the possibilities. We also work with many architects, engineers, and industry professionals who can help get your projects designed and built.

    • Middle Housing Types (2-8 Units)

    • Apartments

    • Tenant Improvements

    • Master Use

    • Permit Expediting

  • When a jurisdiction issues a Notice of Violation, Stop work order, or other order we help our clients navigate the next steps and get to compliance:

    • Already Build Construction permitting

    • Path to Final inspection approval

    • Path to Certificate of Occupancy

    • Retro Permitting

    • Compliance pathways

  • From pre-applications to public hearings, we help clients realize their project goals by presenting and facilitating at a range of meeting types:

    • Pre-Applications

    • Preliminary Feasibility

    • Public Hearings - Councils, Planning Commissions, Hearing Examiners

    • Public Events

    • Marketing Events

    • Regulatory meetings