Home Remodeling in
Browns Point, WA

The Browns Point community is unincorporated Pierce County. The neighbouring part of Northeast Tacoma is often called Browns Point too, but it is inside Tacoma city limits and follows Tacoma's rules.

So the first question on any project is which side of that line the house is on. Inside the Browns Point community, permits and zoning go through Pierce County Planning and Public Works, not the City of Tacoma.

Pierce County adopted the Browns Point and Dash Point Community Plan on 12 August 2008 as part of its comprehensive plan. It describes an area dominated by homes, with a commercial center in the heart of Browns Point, where marine views and an active recreational shoreline shape the community's identity.

The plan carries its own land use designations, allowed uses, density and setback maps. It is worth checking a property against them before planning an addition or a second story.

Pierce County regulates landslide hazard areas as a life safety matter. Its indicators include bluffs with active retreat, slopes steeper than 20 percent with 20 feet or more of vertical relief where permeable soil sits over a less permeable layer, and cracks or seeps near the top or face of a slope.

Where a property falls into a hazard area, work needs county review, and the county can require a geological assessment prepared by a licensed geotechnical professional. On a sloping view lot, that assessment is often the first real milestone of an addition or a deck project, so it belongs in the plan from the start.