Port Orchard Planning Commission members received an update July 1 on a draft revision of the city's Critical Areas Ordinance, Port Orchard Municipal Code chapter 20.162. Principal Planner Jim Fiske said the update is part of the 2024 comprehensive plan implementation and is intended to ensure compliance with the Growth Management Act and to reflect the best available science.

"Tonight we'd like to provide an update on the city's efforts to revise our critical areas ordinance, Port Orchard Municipal Code, chapter 20.162," Jim Fiske said. He told commissioners that staff refreshed a public comment matrix and reorganized the draft for clarity.

The draft proposes several substantive changes, according to staff: establishing a formal verification process so the city can confirm the presence or absence of critical areas ahead of a development application (staff emphasized this is a verification mechanism, not a city-provided report); reorganizing code sections for improved usability; updating wetland buffer standards consistent with Department of Ecology guidance; modernizing the wetland mitigation hierarchy to encourage programmatic tools such as mitigation banking; replacing the term "stream buffer" with "riparian management zone" (RMZ) to align with fish and wildlife terminology; and updating RMZ provisions to meet or exceed fish and wildlife minimums.

Commissioners asked how the proposed verification would change current practice. Commissioner Jo Jo Morrison asked staff to "describe the current approach to identifying critical areas and how the new process will be utilized." Jim Fiske said the city currently relies on county-published mapping compiled from multiple sources and requests specialist reports when a development proposal is within about 300 feet of a mapped critical area. Applicants prepare those reports and the city's third-party consultant verifies them during the application review. The proposed process is intended to "front load" that analysis so applicants can have greater certainty before submitting a development application.

When asked how many permits typically involve a critical area, staff said it varies by permit type but estimated "probably 30%" of permits are affected, with subdivisions more likely to touch critical areas because they cover broader ground.

Staff said it plans to present a final draft of the ordinance at the commission's August meeting and will seek the commission's recommendation to schedule a formal public hearing, likely in October. Commissioners were asked to provide additional feedback by mid-July so staff can incorporate changes into the August draft.

The discussion remained at the review-and-feedback stage; no formal action was taken by the Planning Commission on the ordinance at the July 1 meeting.