Clallam County hears argument to bump code enforcement hours

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 21, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s code enforcement work has increased so much that the department is considering a budget revision to allow a part-time employee to work more hours per week.

Code enforcement is part of the Department of Community Development (DCD) and is led by Code Enforcement and Special Projects Manager Diane Harvey.

Harvey and DCD Director Bruce Emery provided a quarterly update on code enforcement on Monday to the Clallam County commissioners during their work session.

“We would like to modify our budget, not raise the budget, just modify it and shift it from some other bucket line items that I have, and we’d like to add six hours a week to the part-time code enforcement officer,” Harvey said.

That part-time officer works 24 hours a week, and Harvey said raising that to 30 hours per week would be beneficial to the code enforcement efforts. The department also has one full-time code enforcement officer.

The thought process is that the code enforcement efforts have exceeded goals for this year and more manpower is needed in the field.

For the first quarter of 2026, 66 cases were closed, exceeding the year’s 50 case closure goal. The department has removed 73 junk vehicles when it had a quarterly goal of 25 to reach the goal of 100 for the year. The 12-month goal for junk vehicle removal has been increased to 200, Emery said.

The department also has conducted six large property cleanups with another four pending for the second and third quarters of the year.

In 2025, the department had 376 cases total. It has received 74 new cases so far this year.

“We closed 66 of those cases, plus we had 16 cases that are currently in building permit with a status of pending,” Emery said. “So that’s 82 essentially resolved either in process or fully resolved.”

Since April 18, 2023, code enforcement efforts have operated under a Memorandum of Understanding between the commissioners, the DCD, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, the Environmental Health Division of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Word of the county’s policies has been getting out so people are “understanding that we’re not going to go away, that this isn’t going to be just a one-and-done letter,” Harvey said.

The county also is receiving more code enforcement complaints than it has in the past.

The standard operating procedures for the department are still be developed. Harvey said there are monthly meetings with all of the departments involved. One thing she would like to see is an organization similar to 4PA — which focuses on Port Angeles — handling issues that occur throughout Clallam County.

The county has been seeing many complaints involving RVs but also complaints from people living in sheds, which have had plumping installed without permits. The county can’t give legal advice but does show people the Landlord Tenant Act so they know what their rights are.

Another issue the department is seeing complaints from is when there is a neighborhood dispute. A violation will be reported that sometimes isn’t true.

The increase in tiny home construction is causing some problems because many people don’t know they need to contact the state Labor and Industries department to have plans approved before construction. L&I then must perform a final inspection of the tiny home before it can be occupied. Harvey said she is looking into different outreach methods the county could use to educate people on the laws.

One property in particular, located in the 6900 block of Old Olympic Highway in Sequim, has been causing the county a lot of issues because the property owner died and there are now 10 to 12 squatters living on the property, causing solid waste issues, leaving junk vehicles and driving donuts over the septic system’s drain field. The county is struggling to find the owner of the property because the original lender is not in business anymore and it’s now owned by a Nasdaq-traded company.

Without permission from the property owner, the county can not conduct cleanup efforts, Harvey said.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.