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Department of Ecology News Release - January 8, 2010
10-007
BELLEVUE – The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has approved the city of Woodinville’s recently updated Shoreline Master Program (SMP), a landmark effort that significantly increases protection and restoration of Puget Sound area shorelines and water quality.
The city this month accepted minor changes required by Ecology, and the SMP went into effect on Dec. 16, 2009.
The updated SMP guides construction and development in the city’s 2.5 miles of Sammamish River and 1.8 miles of Little Bear Creek shoreline area. The revised SMP combines local plans for future shoreline development and preservation with new shoreline development ordinances and related permitting requirements.
Woodinville’s SMP update began with a thorough inventory of existing land-use patterns and environmental conditions to preserve existing shoreline areas while protecting future economic development.
SMPs are the cornerstone of the state Shoreline Management Act passed by voters in 1972. The programs help minimize environmental damage to shoreline areas, reserve appropriate areas for water-oriented uses, and reduce interference with the public’s access to water.
The law requires cities and counties with streams and rivers flowing at 20 cubic feet per second or greater to develop and periodically update their locally-tailored shoreline programs.
The SMP process is designed to bring diverse local interests to the table to work together. In Woodinville, the city collaborated for more than three years with a shoreline advisory committee, salmon recovery interests, waterfront property owners, tribes and state agencies.
Key features of Woodinville’s updated SMP include:
“Woodinville’s updated shoreline program helps protect these important economic and environmental resources,” said Geoff Tallent, Ecology’s regional supervisor for shorelands and environmental assessment. “By working together, we’re minimizing stream-bank erosion, increasing flood protection and protecting critical habitat and fish and wildlife.”
Ecology has final approval authority for each city and county shoreline program, which becomes part of the state Shoreline Master Program. Ecology adopted new shoreline program guidelines in 2003 that establish the basic requirements for updating local SMPs.
Woodinville joins a growing number of cities, towns and counties that have updated their SMPs using Ecology’s 2003 guidelines. The state guidelines allow each town, city and county flexibility to customize the regulations to fit its local land-use circumstances and vision of local waterfront development.
More than 120 cities and counties across the state are currently updating their programs. 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.
All of Washington’s more than 260 cities and counties with regulated shorelines must update their shoreline programs by December 2014.
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Media Contacts:
Larry Altose, Ecology media relations, 425-649-7009
Geoff Tallent, Ecology regional shorelines program supervisor, 425-649-7096
Hal Hart, City of Woodinville Development Services Department, 425-489-2754
For more information:
Ecology shoreline management home page:
www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/sma/public/index.html
Woodinville’s Shoreline Master Program:
www.ci.woodinville.wa.us/Work/LandUseMasterPlans.asp
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
