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City staff outline Critical Areas Ordinance update: wetlands, aquifer protection, 200-foot Spokane River riparian buffer and floodplain rules
Summary
Ryan Shea, a planner in the city's planning services, presented proposed updates to the Critical Areas Ordinance covering wetlands, aquifer recharge areas, fish and wildlife habitat, frequently flooded areas and geologic hazards, and outlined a draft-and-outreach timeline through 2026.
Ryan Shea, planner in Planning Services, presented a multi-topic update to the city's Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO). Shea emphasized that the CAO is regulatory code implementing the comprehensive plan rather than a long-range plan: "Critical areas ordinance is code. It's not a plan. It's the implementation of our comp plan in a way," he said.
Shea reviewed major elements proposed for update or clarification:
- Wetlands: Spokane uses a four-class rating system (Class I—IV) with buffers scaled to wetland class. If a development affects a wetland or its buffer, mitigation…
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