San Juan County staff told the council the county’s sea‑level rise risk assessment and planning framework are complete and that staff will proceed to public workshops and case‑study feasibility work on shoreline roads and shoreline management.

Kendra Smith, director of environmental stewardship, summarized the county’s multi‑year effort on sea‑level rise and resiliency, saying the county’s risk assessment showed “we have over, 935 structures within special hazard zones here in the county” and “about a 158 miles of non bedrock shoreline, that are gonna have to adapt, to encroaching seas.” Staff described multiple grants and studies that have supported the effort, including a Salmon Recovery grant for a Backshore Roads Feasibility Study and county funding of $100,000 for a sea‑level rise risk and vulnerability assessment (staff contracted ESA to perform the analysis).

Smith said the work has identified four scenarios for different shoreline conditions (e.g., bluff erosion, roads adjacent to shorelines, inundated roads) and has evaluated options including do‑nothing, armor/elevate, restore and relocate or combinations. Staff proposed two public workshops—initially planned for late September and late October—to solicit community feedback on values, priorities and tradeoffs before the county advances detailed engineering and permitting. Smith emphasized the workshops and outreach are “part of this early notification” to help residents understand tradeoffs and time horizons.

Council members supported proceeding with public engagement but asked staff to align the workshop outcomes with the county’s comprehensive plan update and the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Council member Fuller asked staff to explain how policy direction from the workshops would mesh with the comp plan’s new climate element. Council member Paulson and others called for prioritization criteria that balance ecological values, infrastructure needs and economic impacts; Paulson noted the Kitsap County experience where entire neighborhoods faced hard decisions on whether continued protection was viable.

Council members also asked for tribal consultation and broader stakeholder balance in workshop invitations. Smith said tribal outreach is included in the grant scope and staff will use some grant funds for targeted tribal and community engagement. Council members requested that staff produce clear prioritization metrics to guide funding requests and to support any state or federal advocacy for projects that score highly on those metrics.

Next steps: staff will refine workshop materials, consider slightly later dates to allow more public notice, coordinate with internal working groups and tribal contacts and proceed with two workshops to solicit community input. Council members agreed it would be appropriate for one or more council members to participate in the internal working group and to attend the public workshops; staff will return with workshop summaries and recommendations for priority projects.