Experience working with City of Tacoma, Washington on Variance?

[Rob Terpilowski]

I have a call into the City of Tacoma to inquire of this and am waiting to hear back, but thought I would post here to get other's experiences as well.  

I have a distressed SFH under contract which is currently configured as a triplex, which the seller says was not ever approved by the city, and that I will need to apply for a variance from the city if I go through with the purchase and rehab. (I am planning on BRRRR-ing this property)

I haven't heard great things about working with the City of Tacoma, and would be curious how long this process could take.  Obviously we wouldn't want to commence rehab work until we know for sure if we can get the variance, but any ballpark ideas on the timeframe, weeks?  months?  

thanks,

-Rob