County Council approves updates to Shoreline Master Program

November 30, 2010

Summary

Updates include program’s inclusion in County Comprehensive Plan

Story

The Metropolitan King County Council today adopted updates to the King County Shoreline Master Program, the set of policies and development regulations by which King County protects its shorelines. The updates are the first substantive additions to the program in over 30 years

“The Shoreline Master Program protects our remaining natural shorelines in order to preserve the most cherished elements of our natural environment—Puget Sound, our waterways, and iconic species like Chinook salmon and orca whales,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, Chair of the Environment and Transportation Committee. “With ten months of review and input from community members, the Council took a thoughtful and collaborative approach to making the first major updates to the program in over thirty years.”

The Shoreline Master Program is comprised of both policies and regulations. It guides development within the county's shoreline jurisdiction and sets policy that protects the ecological functions within the shoreline while allowing reasonable and necessary use of the shorelines to support the region's economy and provide recreational opportunities.

Today’s legislation is the culmination of three years of work by the County with the last 10 months being the Council’s review of the proposal. The Council’s review included work with property owners and environmental organizations. The adopted ordinance updates the SMP in the following ways:

• It makes shoreline management policies part of the King County Comprehensive Plan, the county’s guide for growth and development in the unincorporated areas of the county.

• It calls for incorporating critical areas requirements or standards for:
     o Flood protection facilities
     o Removal of invasive weeds in shoreline jurisdiction

• Codifies in a new chapter the regulations for shoreline management including:
     o Descriptions of the eight shoreline environment designations
     o Descriptions of the uses and modifications allowed in each of the shoreline designations
     o Simplifying dock regulations for Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish
     o Providing for aquaculture in shoreline jurisdiction

The Shoreline Master Program was developed pursuant to requirements of the State Shoreline Management Act (“SMA”). Approved by voters in 1972, the SMA requires each county and city to adopt a Shoreline Master Program (“SMP”) and regulations to “prevent the inherent harm in an uncoordinated and piecemeal development of the state's shorelines.”

Adopted in 1978, the County's current SMP has not seen any substantial revisions in three decades. In 2003, the Washington Department of Ecology adopted revised guidelines that govern the content of local SMPs. Under state law, King County is required to adopt an updated SMP that implements the new state guidelines by December 1, 2010.


The adopted ordinance advances the Council’s priority of Environmental Sustainability.