Mountlake Terrace staff proposes stricter critical-area rules; recommends moderate increase to stream buffers

Senior Planner Sarah Pizzo presented a draft update to Mountlake Terrace’s critical area ordinance to the Planning Commission on Oct. 13, urging adoption by the end of the year to comply with the state Growth Management Act and updated state guidance.

The draft would expand the ordinance’s reach and raise protections for wetlands, streams, geohazard areas, frequently flooded areas and critical aquifer recharge areas (CARAs). Pizzo said the city must adopt changes before year’s end and that the update aligns the code with the city’s comprehensive plan environmental element and best available science.

Pizzo said the proposal increases the distance to which regulations apply for streams, wetlands and water bodies from a previous 200-foot standard to 300 feet in some cases and adds coverage within channel migration zones or ordinary high water marks where shoreline rules do not already apply. The draft also adds regulation of areas within 200 feet of mapped critical aquifer recharge areas.

On wetlands, the draft would require vegetated buffers planted with native species appropriate to the ecoregion and increase standard buffer widths by about 20–25 feet for most…