Bellevue clearing, grading, and drainage permits for homeowners

Screen the scope before drawing

• Estimate total clearing area and excavation or fill volume.
• Identify retaining walls, rockeries, driveway work, trenches, and material stockpiles.
• Map significant trees, critical areas, buffers, easements, and the public right-of-way.
• Trace where roof, footing, driveway, and yard runoff will go.

Know the common stand-alone thresholds

Bellevue identifies landscape changes over 1,000 square feet of clearing or over 50 cubic yards of grading, as well as certain walls over four feet, among the work that can require a minor clearing-and-grading permit. Critical areas or surcharge loads can trigger review below a simple height or volume threshold.

Treat erosion control as active work

A CSWPPP is not a filing exercise. Stabilized access, inlet protection, sweeping, sediment maintenance, daily inspection during active work, and storm-event response need an assigned person and budget from first disturbance through final stabilization.

Coordinate the civil documents

Survey, site plan, grading, drainage report, civil plans, landscape plan, arborist report, and architectural site plan should use the same grades, walls, trees, utilities, and building footprint. Conflicts between sets create predictable review comments.

Confirm separate connections and access

A storm connection, side sewer, or right-of-way permit may be required even when the building permit includes on-site work. List each related permit and its dependencies so one approval does not quietly hold up issuance or construction.