Council hears minor amendments to shoreline master program; Ecology certification next step

Planning manager Tiffany Spear told the City Council that the Washington State Department of Ecology has certified the city's recent periodic review changes to the shoreline master program except for “one required and then one recommended amendment.” The required amendment, Spear said, is a cross-reference addition to an existing section of the city’s critical areas code.

“This item…starts on page 56 of your program or agenda tonight,” Spear said, indicating the packet sections where the council could review the recommended language and where the edits appear in the master program. She described the changes as non-substantive cross-references intended to make the shoreline master program consistent with the city’s critical areas ordinance and said Ecology accepted the revisions without substantive objection. Ecology sent a certification letter dated June 30, she said.

Councilmembers asked for clarification about the language that would allow unavoidable impacts to certain non–fish-bearing streams and their buffers — a narrow exception rooted in reasonable-use considerations. One councilmember asked for examples of permitted activities that might qualify under the provision; another asked the staff to provide a categorized list of which local water bodies are designated fish-bearing, non–fish-bearing perennial, or seasonal.

Spear said she did not have the full catalog of water-body classifications at hand but offered to follow up with a list for council. “I'm happy to do a follow-up message out to the council clarifying which water bodies, streams, creeks, or lakes are within any of those classifications,” she said.

Spear also clarified process and timing: the Shoreline Management Act uses a state certification process, and the Ecology decision is the final step after council action. She told council the amendments would come back for council action at the next meeting and that the state’s Ecology Department would complete final certification after that action. Because the Shoreline Management Act sets the public-review process, she said the council’s review differs from typical local code changes and therefore would not be handled as the council’s usual public hearing item.

Councilmembers asked for a follow-up memo listing which local waterways fall into each classification and for examples of the kinds of projects that could qualify for a reasonable-use exception. Spear agreed to provide that follow-up information to council members.