Port Orchard planning commission recommends updated critical-areas ordinance to city council

Port Orchard planning commissioners voted to recommend that the City Council adopt updates to the city’s critical-areas ordinance (Port Orchard Municipal Code 20.162) after closing a properly noticed public hearing.

Jim Fisk, principal planner for the city, told the commission the updates are part of the 2024 comprehensive-plan implementation and are intended to align local regulations with the state Growth Management Act and current scientific guidance. “Tonight we'd like to provide an update on the city's work to revise our critical areas ordinance, Port Orchard municipal code 20.162,” Fisk said.

The proposed ordinance adds an earlier verification process so site conditions can be confirmed before active permit applications, updates wetland buffer standards consistent with Department of Ecology guidance, modernizes a mitigation hierarchy that supports mitigation banking, replaces references to stream buffers with fish-and-wildlife–aligned riparian management zones, and updates riparian management-zone standards to meet or exceed Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife minimums. Fisk said the city issued a SEPA determination of non-significance on Sept. 12 and routed the draft ordinance to the Department of Commerce for its required 60-day review.

Commissioners complimented staff and consultants on the draft and noted minor edits and remaining suggested changes. Wayne Wright pointed out a typographical error in the draft (a misplaced provision related to stream-bank stabilization) and asked staff to correct it before final materials go to council. Commissioners also discussed the practical effect of a new verification pathway for property owners and for environmental protection.

After closing the public hearing, the commission moved and seconded a recommendation to the City Council. Tiffany Mitchell made the motion recommending council adoption; Annette Stewart seconded. The commission recorded the motion as passing unanimously. The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council, with staff anticipating council consideration at the Nov. 18 meeting.

The commission’s packet and periodic comment matrix have tracked public and agency input since last winter, and staff said the most significant substantive change since July concerns the verification section that allows the city to confirm presence of critical areas in advance of permit submittals.

The meeting record does not include a roll-call vote with individual member votes; the transcript records the motion, a second and that the motion “passes unanimously.”