Arlington’s wall line and what is still open
Arlington’s retaining wall handout requires a building permit for any wall over four feet, measured from the underside of the footing up to the top of the wall. A shorter wall needs one too when a surcharge, meaning any added load bearing on or against it such as fill, sits behind or above it. The building exemption list matches that line for walls four feet or less with no surcharge and no liquid of the classes the list names.
The exemption list gives uncovered decks and porches a 30-inch limit above grade, and it names no driveway, sidewalk, or flatwork item. Work in the right-of-way needs a permit from the Community and Economic Development Director, and Chapter 20.56 states no decision time. Sidewalk upkeep and approach rules do not appear in that chapter, so we do not state them as settled.
The 2023 stormwater program uses the 2005 stormwater manual as a benchmark and cites a 2012 edition in another section, without naming the edition the city has adopted. We confirm the edition with city staff for each project before the drainage line is quoted.
Nearby, we also build in Marysville, Stanwood, Lake Stevens, and Snohomish, and we serve the rest of western Washington.