Lakewood’s Planning and Public Works Department performs permitting, licensing, land use planning, building inspections, development review, transportation planning and engineering, street system review and surface water and stormwater management. The department also advances housing affordability, rental unit safety and more.
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Contact
For all Planning and Public Works inquiries please call 253-512-2261. You can also email individual departments:
Online Permit Center
For applications filed before June 16, 2025 use the Permit Dashboard to track your application.
For all new applications, please use our new Online Permit Center.
The Online Permit Center is open 24/7! use it anytime to look up property or project info, submit applications, pay fees, check your permit status or request an inspection. It’s available for properties located within Lakewood, Washington jurisdiction.
Permit Center
[email protected]
Customer meetings are available Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Lakewood City Hall, 6000 Main St SW or virtually through Microsoft Teams. Click here to schedule an appointment with a permit tech.
Business Licensing
[email protected]
Rental Housing Safety Program
[email protected]
Site Development
[email protected]
Planning
[email protected]
Customer meetings are available Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Lakewood City Hall, 6000 Main St SW or virtually through Microsoft Teams. Click here to schedule an appointment with a Planner.
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Lean Process Improvements
Lean is a methodology that is applied to process improvements for all kinds of work in the Department. It leads to innovative ways of making existing work more efficient, effective and services more customer-focused. Nearly everything we do in the Department has a workflow or process involved.
Going forward, the Department will improve processes by using Lean principles. This effort kicked off in November 2024 by evaluating the Residential Building Permit process. It is expected more Lean process improvements will continue in 2025. Please check this website for future updates.