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Planning Commission opens public hearing on critical areas update; staff to study larger buffers after WDFW comments
Summary
The commission opened a public hearing on Nov. 18 for a periodic update to the critical areas regulations. Staff described a proposed increase in some stream buffers from 50 to 100 feet, summarized Department of Fish & Wildlife recommendations for a site-potential-tree-height approach (potentially larger buffers), and scheduled additional outreach and a Jan. 6 follow-up.
The Everett Planning Commission opened a public hearing Nov. 18 on a periodic update to the city’s critical areas regulations, focusing discussion on stream buffer widths, interactions with steep slopes and wetlands, and outstanding technical comments from state agencies.
Planning Director York Stevens Lodge reviewed the October 31 draft and used maps to illustrate how a proposed increase in stream buffers (from a typical 50-foot standard to a 100-foot minimum for certain stream types) would interact with steep slopes and nearby wetlands. He noted the 100-foot figure corresponds to pollution-removal literature but said Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has urged a different approach: WDFW recommended establishing riparian management zones using a site-potential-tree-height (SPTH) method that in some places…
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