Clark County Builders Say Permitting Costs Too Much and Takes Too Long — The County Has the Data to Prove It

Ask any developer working in Clark County what the biggest obstacle to getting a project built is, and permitting comes up before financing, materials, or labor. Now there’s county data that backs up the complaint.

According to Clark County figures, 804 new homebuilding permits were issued between July 2025 and June 2026, with an average of just under 49 days between submittal and issuance. That average hides a sharp divide: projects that qualified for the county’s LEAN expedited process — introduced in 2014 for new home construction under 4,000 square feet (4,800 with a garage) on lots that can connect to public water and sewer — averaged under 10 days from submittal to issuance. Projects that didn’t qualify for LEAN averaged around 62 days.

David Kuhnhausen, who now leads Clark County’s Community Development Department after 15 years with the City of Portland’s development services division, has said the permitting process is only one piece of what developers weigh when budgeting time and money into a project — but it’s consistently the piece builders raise first at land use hearings and county council meetings. Clark County’s permit fees also tend to run higher than some neighboring jurisdictions, compounding the timeline complaint with a cost complaint.

Why this matters for contractors: If you’re not building at a scale or configuration that qualifies for LEAN, budget the 60-plus day timeline into your project schedule now rather than discovering it mid-project. If your projects are LEAN-eligible and you’re not using the program, the roughly 50-day difference is worth structuring around.

Sources: The Columbian; Clark County Community Development Department