Letter to the Editor: Is Ranker’s Gift to Shoreline Homeowners (SB 5451) a Trojan Horse?

Earlier this month, State Sen. Kevin Ranker issued a press release extolling the virtues of his proposed legislation affecting waterfront property owners whose properties are or will be deemed “nonconforming.” The Common Sense Alliance (CSA) supports the stated purpose of the legislation, but the bill–SB 5451–is not what it purports to be.

Sen. Ranker stated that Senate Bill 5451 “simply removes the designation ‘nonconforming use’ from residential shoreline evaluation.” A closer look, however, reveals that SB 5451 removes not only the “nonconforming” label, but also the current legal protection afforded to existing shoreline homes.

Right now, if a nonconforming structure is partially destroyed, it can be rebuilt “to those configurations existing immediately prior to the [damage]” without having to comply with any new Shoreline Master Program (SMP) requirements. SB 5451 would call structures “conforming,” but require them to comply upon replacement with any new SMP requirements, “including requirements for no net loss of shoreline ecological functions.”

SB 5451 also appears likely to impose the new “no net loss” requirement on a parcel-by-parcel basis, thereby denying the flexibility that cities and counties may need to address this criterion on a jurisdiction-wide or watershed basis.

One might ask how replacement of an existing home would implicate the “no net loss” requirement in the first place, and why Sen. Ranker included it in the bill. More important, why is he resisting proposed amendments to clarify the bill now that the potential issue has been brought to light?

Shoreline home owners state-wide should contact their representatives in Olympia and insist that SB 5451 be amended to actually protect existing homes and allow flexibility that is needed to fairly and effectively protect our shorelines.

Tim Blanchard
Vice President, Common Sense Alliance