For an unincorporated King County shoreline variance, keep the county’s written decision and Washington Ecology’s final action as separate documents. The county’s shoreline permit page leads to the variance information sheet; Ecology’s appeal guidance identifies the state Shorelines Hearings Board route. A posted application or county notice is not the final state action.
Use the parcel and SHOR case to find the county file
First establish that the property was under unincorporated King County permit authority for the action in question. The county’s public notices can identify shoreline cases by SHOR number and parcel number. Save both identifiers and distinguish a notice of application from a notice of decision. A notice may lead to supporting plans and environmental material, but its presence does not show that the variance was finally approved.
The county’s variance information sheet describes a written local decision sent to the applicant and participants, followed by Ecology review for a final decision. For a specific site, obtain the written county action and its conditions, not just a portal label. If the variance was combined with another land-use permit, identify each decision separately.
Follow Ecology’s action before reading appeal status
Carry the SHOR number, applicant and parcel information from the local file to Ecology’s final action. Read its disposition and the date of filing rather than assuming the date on the first county notice starts every appeal clock. Ecology says shoreline variance permits are among the permit types reviewable by the Shorelines Hearings Board, and that the filing date controls the state appeal period. It also says a substantial-development exemption is not the same appealable permit type. Check the current official instructions if an appeal deadline matters; this guide does not calculate one for an unidentified case.
Here is a filing comparison, using invented dates rather than a real SHOR case. A March application notice invites comment; a May county letter grants a variance with conditions; a June Ecology action addresses the state review. A buyer who finds only the March notice has no final disposition. A buyer who finds the May letter still needs to check the June document and whether it changed, denied or conditioned the result. If someone reports an appeal, obtain the Board filing and outcome rather than treating the mere allegation as a reversal.
Keep the case number, parcel number and decision date beside each document. Also separate variance approval from the construction record: the King County building-plan file guide addresses where older plans and permit files may have moved. A shoreline variance does not prove a building permit issued, an inspection passed or the approved shoreline work was actually built.
A second common mismatch is a combined county packet. Imagine a cover sheet that lists a shoreline variance and a separate grading decision, while only the grading pages are in the downloaded file. The grading outcome cannot answer the variance question. Ask for the signed shoreline decision and its conditions by the SHOR identifier, then compare the project description in Ecology’s action. If the work shown on later building plans differs from the approved shoreline proposal, do not infer that the variance authorized the change; request the amendment or later shoreline review, if any.
Where the appeal record would be, and how fast it closes
State rules fix the window that an appeal record can come from. According to Ecology’s appeal page:
- A shoreline variance, substantial development permit or conditional use permit can be appealed to the Shorelines Hearings Board within 21 days of the date of filing, as defined in RCW 90.58.180(1) and WAC 461-08-310.
- The written appeal goes to both the Board and Ecology, no later than 5 p.m. on the last filing day. Board petitions are normally filed through its online Case Management System.
- An exemption from the substantial development permit is not a permit. It cannot go to the Board; a challenge goes to superior court under the Land Use Petition Act (chapter 36.70C RCW).
Two practical consequences follow. If the King County file holds an exemption letter rather than a SHOR variance decision, a Board docket search is the wrong place to look for a challenge. And because a variance grants relief from specific bulk, dimensional or performance standards in the shoreline master program, read the decision for the exact standard it relaxed, such as a setback or height, and compare that figure with the later building plans.
If the written shoreline decision is missing
Ask King County Permitting for the written shoreline variance decision using the SHOR case and parcel number. Ask Ecology for its final decision or filing reference if the county file says it was transmitted but does not contain the state document. If an appeal is alleged, use the case parties and filing reference to request or inspect the Board record. Note which document was actually obtained and which remains unverified.
A shoreline variance also does not certify that later construction passed inspection. For an unrelated site-history question, a King County septic as-built belongs to a different permit file. Keep the shoreline decision, building permits and completion evidence in separate rows of the property history.
King County and Ecology guidance checked October 20, 2026.