Kent ground, weather, and permits
According to Wikipedia, the Green River valley was cut by Ice Age glaciers and later filled with river sediment and Mount Rainier lahars, which leaves the valley floor level and river-built. Flood protection there rests on Howard Hanson Dam and the levees. The hills are different ground. Kent’s code counts certain soil map units, such as Kitsap silt loam on 15 to 30 percent slopes, as landslide hazard areas, and the NRCS describes Kitsap as lake-laid silt.
The City of Kent Permit Center takes building and right-of-way permits, and Public Works sets drainage rules through a Surface Water Design Manual built on King County’s. Kent regulates FEMA-mapped flood hazard areas under chapter 14.09 of its code and geologic hazards, steep slopes included, under chapter 11.06. Panther Lake joined the city in 2010, so older permit records there may sit with King County. Before pricing, we read the flood, slope, and drainage mapping for the parcel.
Nearby, we also build in Renton, Auburn, Covington, Des Moines, Tukwila, and Federal Way, and we serve the rest of Pierce and South King County.