Snoqualmie planning commission approves updated critical areas ordinance, expands small‑project exemption to 500 sq ft

Snoqualmie — The Snoqualmie Planning Commission voted Oct. 6 to recommend that the City Council adopt an updated critical areas ordinance that incorporates Department of Fish and Wildlife best‑available science on stream, wetland and flood hazards and raises an administrative exemption for small additions on already developed lots from 250 square feet to 500 square feet.

The commission’s vote follows several months of staff work and consultant review to align city code with state guidance. The update, presented by the city’s planning staff and consultant wetland scientist Jeff Gray of OTEC (Redmond), increases many stream buffers (non‑fish streams to 100 feet and fish‑bearing “Type F” streams to 200 feet in the city’s approach) and clarifies how disconnected buffers (for example, where roads separate a wetland from adjacent land) apply. The commission added an administrative exception for previously developed residential lots that will allow a limited footprint of improvements without a full critical‑areas report.

Why it matters: The revisions adopt newer science on riparian functions, including consideration of large woody debris and geomorphology, and could change where homes, decks and accessory structures are allowed without further studies. City staff and commissioners…