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Department of Ecology News Release - September 24, 2009
09-234
OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) is awarding $1.2 million to a partnership of jurisdictions in Clark County to help them update their existing shoreline policies and development regulations, also called “shoreline master programs.”
The city of Vancouver will administer the money to help revise how 300 miles of stream and lake shorelines will be wisely managed within Vancouver as well as Clark County, Camas, La Center, Ridgefield and Washougal.
Shoreline master programs are the cornerstone of the state Shoreline Management Act passed by voter referendum in 1972. The law applies to shorelines around Washington’s larger lakes and streams, including Washington’s Columbia River shoreline area.
State law requires jurisdictions to periodically review and revise their shoreline regulations. More than 70 cities and counties are in the process. Most haven’t done so comprehensively in more than 30 years. From 1978 through 2008, the state population has grown from about 3.8 million to an estimated 6.6 million people.
Gordon White, who oversees Ecology’s statewide shoreline management activities, said master programs help minimize environmental damage to shoreline areas, reserve appropriate areas for water-oriented uses, and encourage the public’s access to water.
“Updating these shoreline mast programs is critical,” White said, “because they also help protect water quality, keep local beaches and stream banks from further erosion, increase flood protection, and safeguard critical habitat as well as fish and wildlife.”
Shoreline master programs help guide local decisions for shoreline uses for water-dependent activities such as ports, barge loading facilities and public access to waterfront areas.
The state grant is part of a multi-year effort by state lawmakers to help all Washington’s 266 cities and counties with shorelines update their shoreline regulations by December 2014. A schedule for specific counties and cities to revise their shoreline master programs is set by statute under the Shoreline Management Act.
Ecology adopted new shoreline program guidelines in 2003 that establish the basic requirements for updating local programs. The state guidelines allow each city and county flexibility to customize the regulations to fit their local land-use circumstances and vision of local waterfront development. The process is designed to bring diverse local interests to the table to work collaboratively including waterfront property owners, builders, farmers, environmental and conservation interests, recreation users, local governments, tribes and state agencies.
Every community starts its update with a thorough inventory of existing land-use patterns and environmental conditions. Once completed, shoreline master programs combine local plans for future shoreline development and preservation with new shoreline development ordinances and permitting requirements.
Nearly a dozen jurisdictions have recently completed their updates using Ecology’s 2003 guidelines. Ecology has final approval authority for each city and county shoreline program, which becomes part of the state shoreline master program.
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Media Contact: Curt Hart, 360-407-6990; cell, 360-480-7908 (curt.hart@ecy.wa.gov)
For more information about shoreline master programs: www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/sma/public/index.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
