Shoreline Master Plan Process Continues

 From Colin Maycock, Senior Planner, County Department of Planning and Development

The first public hearing on the Shoreline Master Program (SMP) update with the Planning Commission is scheduled to begin. The hearing will begin at or after 8:45 a.m., Thursday May 9, 2013, in the County Council Chambers, 55 Second Street, Friday Harbor. Interested parties are encouraged to attend and provide comment. It is expected that the hearing will be streamed on the web.

Written comments for the Planning Commission should be received by 1 pm May 7, 2013, to provide an opportunity for staff to distribute them to the Planning Commission prior to the hearing.

The SMP regulates development and activities in the 200 feet landward of the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) and seaward to the county line or Canadian border.

The purpose of the public hearing is to take comments on and consider:

• The proposed amendments to the goals and policies in Element 3 of the Comprehensive Plan;
• The proposed amendments SJCC 18.20; 18:50; and 18.80.110; and
• The proposed amendments to the shoreline designation map.

The following documents are available on the County’s website for your review and consideration:

• A draft of Element 3 of the County’s Comprehensive Plan containing the goals and policies of the SMP and the selection criteria for the different shoreline designations; CDP/docs/SMP/SMP_Draft-GPs
• A draft of SJCC 18.50, the regulations that serve to implement the goals and policies of Element 3 and the Shoreline Management Act (SMA); CDP/docs/SMP/Final_Draft_underlined_-2013-04-22
• A copy of the proposed amendments to the shoreline designations; CDP/docs/SMP/Proposed_ED_Modifications_2013-03-05.pdf
• A copy of the draft Cumulative Impact Analysis (CIA) of the proposed regulations in which the current regulations are compared to the proposal; CDP/docs/SMP/REVISED_DRAFT_San_Juan_County_CIA_(clean).pdf
• A memo from Planning Coordinator, Shireene Hale, that proposes some options the Planning Commission may consider to simplify the application of the critical areas regulations in the shoreline. CDP/docs/SMP/PCMemo_SH_2013-4-24_(2).pdf
  and CDP/docs/SMP/BufferExamples_2013-04-24-_Revised.pdf
• A copy of the SEPA checklist and the signed Determination of Nonsignificance CDP/docs/SMP/SMP_Update_SEPA_Checklist_2013-4-24.pdf
  and https://www.sanjuanco.com/CDP/docs/SMP/SMP_Update_DNS_2013-4-24.pdf  Comments on the SEPA checklist and Determination of Nonsignificance are due by end of business, May 8, 2013.
• The comment summary from the ‘Open House’ meetings on March 18,19 and 20. This report consists of multiple files, the first 10 below the ‘Open House’ document are copies of the posters that were present at the meetings. These posters depict provisions of the proposed update and include 3 development scenarios that compare the proposed regulations with the development options of the current regulations. CDP/docs/SMP/OpenHousesCommentSummary-2013-03-26.pdf

State law requires the County to update its SMP (RCW 90.58.080(2)(iv)), and Washington Administrative Code (WAC) chapter 173-26 sets forth the appropriate procedure for carrying out that update.

Beyond meeting State requirements, the Staff approached the SMP update with the goal of retaining the existing regulations where possible, while simplifying and clarifying the development regulations that apply in the shoreline.

To achieve this, staff has reduced redundancies by eliminating or combining sections; by clarifying development requirements; by increasing the consistency in the use of terms; by eliminating unnecessary sections such as specific shoreline districts for Shaw Island and Eastsound however, many of the differences that the subarea shoreline districts are retained.

Written comments for the Planning Commission should be received by 1 pm May 7, 2013, to provide an opportunity for staff to distribute them to the Planning Commission prior to the hearing.

A copy of the third version of the Shoreline Inventory and Characterization Report will be posted within the next few days. An online form will be available for citizens that wish to send the County descriptions of their properties and how they use it. Property descriptions received previously have been combined with the County’s GIS database so that in the future the County will have a record of the level of development on your parcel.

As always, if you have any questions or comments please contact me at 360-370-7573 or by email at colinm@sanjuanco.com.

Written comments can be sent to Community Development and Planning, PO Box 947, Friday Harbor, 98250.