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Sammamish council adopts ordinance integrating updated critical‑areas rules into shoreline master program
Summary
On May 6 the Sammamish City Council adopted an ordinance to incorporate the city’s recently amended critical‑areas rules into its Shoreline Master Program. The change aligns local shoreline regulations with the city’s January 1, 2025 critical‑areas update and begins a state review by the Department of Ecology.
Sammamish City Council voted 7‑0 on May 6 to adopt an ordinance that integrates the city’s recently amended critical‑areas rules into its Shoreline Master Program. The ordinance amends SMC 25.01.070 and will be transmitted to the Washington State Department of Ecology for final review and approval.
Department of Community Development planner David Pyle summarized the purpose of the update, saying the city’s critical‑areas rules “became effective on January 1 of 2025” and that the integration is intended to align the Shoreline Master Program with the best available science used in the critical‑areas update. Pyle told council the Shoreline Master Program covers city shorelines — including Lake Sammamish, Pine Lake and Beaver Lake — and extends 200 feet landward from the ordinary high water mark.
The ordinance specifically removes certain local exceptions that the state does not recognize in shoreline jurisdiction, Pyle said. Among the changes described in his presentation: the Shoreline Master Program will not include local “reasonable use” exceptions (those projects in shoreline jurisdiction will instead use the shoreline‑variance permit route), the city will accept the state view that isolated wetlands generally are not recognized within shoreline areas because of hydrologic connections, and prior local pilot provisions allowing fill of wetlands in shoreline areas have been repealed as moot by the city’s recent critical‑areas update.
Pyle noted state statute and precedent require local shoreline programs to meet the Shoreline Management Act standards and that the state retains final authority; he referenced the 2010 House Bill 1653 as part of the statutory context that narrows differences between critical‑areas and shoreline requirements. The ordinance adopted by council inserts language into Title 25 to reference and incorporate applicable critical‑areas sections while excluding provisions the state does not accept in shoreline areas.
Council moved and seconded the ordinance and the council’s vote was recorded as “motion carries, 7‑0.” The adoption is a local legislative step; the ordinance will not take final effect until the State Department of Ecology completes its review and issues its approval or required modifications. Pyle told council the city had worked with the Department of Ecology throughout the process and expected informal state comment ahead of formal review.
