City staff reintroduces Shoreline Master Program update; staff outlines timeline and review steps

A city planner reviewed Anacortes’ Shoreline Master Program and told the Planning Commission on March 10 that staff intends to reinitiate the SMP periodic update, aiming to complete the work after the city’s recent comprehensive-plan update.

The presentation explained the legal basis — the Shoreline Management Act — and Ecology’s role in technical guidance and final review for certain shoreline permits. The planner said shoreline jurisdiction in Anacortes covers marine water and identified lakes and associated wetlands; upland jurisdiction typically extends about 200 feet from the ordinary high water mark. The presenter emphasized the SMP objective of "no net loss" of shoreline ecological functions.

Staff outlined the three shoreline permit types: shoreline substantial development permits, conditional use permits and variances. The planner said a project is a substantial development when its total cost or fair-market value exceeds $8,500, and that conditional-use and variance decisions go to the Washington State Department of Ecology after local review. For many projects that meet statutory exemptions — notably owner-occupied single-family residences and routine dock maintenance — staff uses a letter-of-exemption, an administrative authorization that still requires staff review for conformance with SMP policies but typically does not require the public-notice process.

Using a fictitious Skyline parcel, the presenter walked commissioners through the review steps: confirm whether the parcel lies in shoreline jurisdiction using the city’s interactive map, check the shoreline environment designation to see whether a use is permitted, determine whether a permit or an exemption is required, and then identify applicable SMP sections (setbacks, impervious-surface limits, vegetation-retention and mitigation sequencing). The planner noted a common minimum non-water-dependent setback in the shoreline residential area is 25 feet and impervious-surface limits often range from about 20 to 30 percent depending on slope.

On the periodic-update timeline, staff said work began in 2019 with inventories, public outreach and a draft sent to Ecology; the commission recommended approval and the council requested integration of the commission’s recommended changes and a second public-review round in 2022. Ongoing appeals of the city’s critical-areas regulations delayed final integration; appeals were resolved around 2023, then the city paused SMP adoption while completing the 2025 comprehensive-plan update. Staff told commissioners it will evaluate the 2019 draft, assess state law or guidance changes since 2019, and propose a path forward that could move SMP regulations into the municipal code (Title 19) and migrate goals and policies into the comprehensive-plan shoreline element, consistent with Ecology guidance.

Commissioners asked whether past work will need to be redone and whether the baseline for recommended changes will be the adopted 2010 SMP or the 2019 draft. Staff said those questions are under evaluation and that the next steps will clarify scope and schedule. The planner closed by noting that many of the technical reports and maps from the prior update remain available and that staff will return with specifics on timing and public-review milestones.

The presentation is the formal reintroduction of the periodic update; staff said the target is to complete the SMP work following the comprehensive-plan update this year. The commission’s subsequent agenda item included a brief planning-department update and discussion of possible extra meetings next month.