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Puyallup staff propose major critical‑areas code update; stream buffer expansions, hybrid approach and outreach planned
Summary
Kendall Walls, senior planner, presented proposed revisions to Puyallup’s critical‑areas ordinance (Chapter 21.06 PMC) on July 15, emphasizing proposed stream buffer increases guided by state riparian science and a hybrid, urban‑adapted approach.
Kendall Walls, senior planner in the City of Puyallup planning division, presented a formal update to the city’s draft critical areas ordinance—Chapter 21.06 of the Puyallup Municipal Code—during the July 15 study session, focusing on proposed changes to stream buffers and related procedures.
Walls said the update responds to the state Growth Management Act and an obligation to use best available science, noting the city’s critical areas code has not had a comprehensive overhaul since 2006. “This update is required to be complete by the end of this year,” Walls told council.
The proposed changes would recategorize streams to the type S (shoreline), type F (fish‑bearing) and type N (non‑fish bearing) system used by state agencies and would raise minimum stream buffers to 100 feet in many cases as a baseline. Walls said staff relied on Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW)…
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