Lake Forest Park rules for walls, grading, and frontage
Lake Forest Park’s retaining wall help topic (Help Topic 1.3) says a permit is needed for a wall over four feet in overall height, and that a wall over four feet needs a structural design sealed by a professional engineer holding a Washington license. Footings also bring in the clearing and grading application. Ordinance 23-1270 on retaining walls was approved June 8, 2023, after that help topic, and we could not read its adopted text, so the current wall standard is confirmed with city staff before design. The clearing and grading application sets the thresholds. A major permit covers moving 50 or more cubic yards, adding 250 or more square feet of new impervious surface, clearing 2,000 or more square feet, or sending new drainage off site or into the city storm network. A minor permit covers 25 to 50 cubic yards, 100 to 250 square feet of new impervious surface, or 500 to 2,000 square feet cleared. The right-of-way use application names sidewalks, utilities, and drainage work, but not driveways or curbs.
Nearby, we also build in Shoreline, Kenmore, Bothell, and Mountlake Terrace, and we serve the rest of western Washington.