Tacoma ground, weather, and permits
Tacoma sits in the Puget Lowland, where compact glacial till over sand and gravel is the usual layering, and the bluffs above the water have moved before. The 1949 slide above the Narrows followed an earthquake, and USGS analysis points to high groundwater as a contributor. The county still sees slides after long wet spells. Near sea level, the Tideflats were filled from the late 1880s over Puyallup River delta sediment. About 41 inches of precipitation falls in a normal year, and in North and West Tacoma the old smelter plume can leave arsenic and lead in the topsoil.
Planning and Development Services issues Tacoma’s residential permits and its right-of-way permits for sidewalk, curb, and driveway work. The city publishes its own tip sheet on what needs a permit, sets site development thresholds for hard surface and grading, and regulates steep slopes under its critical areas chapter. Shoreline lots fall under the Shoreline Master Program instead. We check what applies to your address before we quote.
Nearby, we also build in University Place, Lakewood, Fife, Edgewood, Puyallup, and Milton, and we serve the rest of Pierce and South King County.