Everett staff present complete draft of Critical Areas Ordinance update; commissioners seek site-level impact examples

City planning staff presented a complete draft update of Everett's Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) at the Planning Commission's Nov. 4 meeting and asked the commission and outside agencies for review before returning Nov. 18 for deliberation and a public hearing. Planning Director York Steven Swadge and environmental planner Teddy Holbrook said the update reorganizes Chapter 19.37, clarifies mitigation sequencing and mitigation-banking language, and aligns local rules with state 'best available science.'

The draft is intended to reaffirm the city's policy of "no net loss" to ecological functions while balancing existing development and property rights, staff said. "The best available science applies throughout the state," Holbrook said, adding that larger stream buffers recommended by updated science (in some cases moving toward 100 feet for greater pollutant reduction) may in practice have less effect in Everett where many streams are flanked by wetlands and slopes.

Why it matters: updates to the CAO can change how development near streams, wetlands, and steep slopes is reviewed and permitted. Commissioners pressed staff to provide concrete, site-specific examples of how proposed buffer and enforcement changes would affect properties with existing buildings, lawns, or hardscape. York Swadge told the commission that mapping of suspected critical areas is maintained as a public, evolving layer and that the CAO update does not itself remap or re-designate individual features; on-the-ground determinations occur through site-level critical area reports during development review.

What the draft does: staff said the proposed code reorders 19.37 into separate articles for each critical area, redistributes text for clarity, and provides new tables and exhibits (Exhibit A: table of contents; Exhibit B: draft code) and a memorandum summarizing key changes. The draft keeps the mitigation sequencing hierarchy (avoid, minimize, rectify, reduce, compensate, monitor) and clarifies options for buffer averaging, buffer reduction with enhancement, mitigation banking, and in-lieu fee credits. York Swadge said the city has been working with state agencies and plans additional briefings with the Department of Fish & Wildlife and others.

Public input and mapping: resident Howard Bargreen urged the commission to remove an "unnamed creek" notation on his family's Rucker Hill property, saying the extra water came from historical city reservoir leakage rather than a natural stream. Swadge responded that the CAO update does not itself change specific on-the-ground mapping; the suspected-stream layer includes historical USGS mapping refined with lidar and will be confirmed or adjusted through project-level studies and professional critical area reports. Staff agreed to add Mr. Bargreen's correspondence to the record and to follow up with him directly.

Open questions commissioners raised: several commissioners asked staff to: - Provide a few concrete examples showing how revised buffer widths and wording would affect nonconforming developed parcels (different outcomes for lawns, hardscape, and buildings); - Identify elements of state guidance commissioners may find inapplicable or overly prescriptive for Everett; - Clarify use and access to mitigation banking and in-lieu fee credits (staff said the draft aims to simplify use and does not remove the ability to use such credits); - Define or remove ambiguous terms such as "heritage trees" and the use of "evergreens" in buffer-protection language.

Next steps and participation: the draft was published for review on Oct. 31. Staff requested written comments via CAO@EverettWA.gov and posted materials to the project webpage. Staff expects a Planning Commission briefing, public hearing and deliberation Nov. 18, a Parks & Built Environment Committee briefing Nov. 12, and a full City Council briefing Dec. 3; a council second reading and adoption could occur in December or January depending on calendar constraints and any required revisions.

Quotes (selected): "The city has compiled a general map of suspected or known critical areas that is refined continuously," Planning Director York Steven Swadge said. "When the time came for the application of the critical area regulations, we would confirm or modify our understanding of the presence of that, and then we would update our online, publicly available mapping."

"You need a 100 feet for 90% of pollution reduction, and that's the major function of the buffer of a stream," Holbrook said while noting Everett's local conditions may reduce practical differences in many locations.

What's next: staff will incorporate agency and public comments, return Nov. 18 for commission deliberation and public testimony, and prepare materials requested by commissioners (impact examples, clarifications of state guidance applicability, and definition checks for tree-related language).