Start Here
Welcome to the City of Medina Development Services page. This page is designed to help property owners, applicants, and consultants understand the first steps in Medina’s permit and development review process. For most projects, the first step is meeting with City staff to discuss zoning, development standards, and application requirements before submitting a permit application.
Meetings Prior to Submitting a Project Permit Application
Pursuant to MMC 16.80.060, the City offers two types of meetings that may occur prior to submitting and processing a project permit application. These meetings are intended to provide early guidance and improve application quality.
Predevelopment Meetings (Pre-application Meetings)
Predevelopment meetings are a great way to connect with city staff, ask questions about your project, and receive guidance. These online meetings are not required prior to, but highly encouraged for most building permit applications, including new single-family residences, additions, and remodels. Our goal is to assist you with your preparation of a complete permit application and to give you helpful guidance. Take advantage of our predevelopment process to get your permits faster.
Predevelopment meetings are held on Wednesday mornings subject to availability. To schedule, please complete the Predevelopment Meeting Request Form and upload to our permitting portal, along with any preliminary site or building plans. The cut-off for scheduling a predevelopment meeting is noon of the Thursday immediately prior to your preferred Wednesday.
Depending upon the scope of your project, we will have available our Planner, Development Services Coordinator, Building Official, Tree Code Consultant, Grading and Drainage Consultant, and Development Services Director. You will receive emailed checklists from staff members following the meeting. The checklists are intended to further help you towards achieving a complete permit application.
Your design should begin with a review of Medina’s zoning regulations. Development regulations are located within Medina Municipal Code Title 16 – Unified Development Code. You are encouraged to confirm zoning information for your property prior to your pre-application meeting by contacting Medina’s Planner as part of your feasibility analysis or design.
Development Information Meetings (Feasibility Meetings)
Development information meetings are intended for parties other than owners who wish to meet with the City to discuss zoning and development limitations that may apply to a specific parcel. The purpose of a development information meeting is to acquaint you with City processes and discuss zoning, development standards, and considerations for a parcel. These meetings are not intended to be an exhaustive review of all potential issues.
Development information meetings are held on Wednesday mornings subject to availability. To schedule, please complete the Development Information Meeting Request Form and upload to our permitting portal. The cut-off for scheduling a development information meeting is noon of the Thursday immediately prior to your preferred Wednesday.
Other Things to Note
These meetings are intended to be helpful as you prepare to apply for permits. However, it is your responsibility to ensure that your applications are complete, and that your design is compliant with all applicable Federal, State, and local codes, including the Medina Municipal Code. Applications found to be incomplete will not be vested and will be returned to you. Failure to submit permit documents that are code compliant will delay the review processing time. Medina staff does not make any determinations of permit application completeness or code compliance in either of these meetings.
Discussions during either of these meeting types are not binding and do not prohibit enforcement of applicable laws.
Following either meeting, you are welcome to contact any of our staff and consultants individually to talk more about your project. You can also schedule another meeting.
The fee to hold one of these meetings is $2,000, which is collected as an advance deposit. This advance deposit is used to reimburse the City for consultant services as costs are incurred. Any remaining balance in the advance deposit account will be refunded to the applicant approximately three months after the meeting date.
Please contact the Development Services Director, Steve Wilcox at swilcox@medina-wa.gov with any questions you may have.
