Article 3. Shoreline Environment Designations
14.50.300 Shoreline environment designation system.
The SMA’s requirements for shoreline environment designations are found in WAC 173-26-211. The city classified and mapped its shoreline jurisdiction into shoreline environment designations based on the following four (4) criteria found in the state SMP guidelines (WAC 173-26-211(2)(a)):
A. Existing Land Use Patterns. What land uses have developed in each of the shoreline areas to date, as documented in the shoreline inventory and characterization report and the SMP map folio.
B. Biological and Physical Character of the Shoreline. The range of ecological characteristics and functions identified for each of the shoreline reaches documented in the shoreline inventory and characterization report.
C. The Goals and Aspirations of the City as Expressed through Its Comprehensive Plan. A city’s comprehensive plan provides guidance through its goals and policies, land use designations, various elements such as land use, housing, transportation, capital facilities and economic development, as well as implementing development codes, parks and recreation plans, sub-area plans and other plans.
D. Specific Criteria for Each Shoreline Environment Designation. The specific criteria for the aquatic, high intensity, shoreline residential and urban conservancy shoreline environment designations are found in WAC 173-26-211(5). The city may establish different shoreline environment designations, provided they are consistent with the purposes and policies of the state SMP guidelines.
Based on these four (4) criteria, this chapter establishes the shoreline environment designations used in the city for shoreline jurisdiction defined in Section 14.50.060. The locations of the shoreline environment designations are illustrated in Section 14.50.900, Appendix 1: Shoreline environment designation maps, and each shoreline environment designation is described in this chapter by a statement of purpose, followed by designation criteria, and management policies specific to that shoreline environment designation.