Greetings & Happy Summer Interested Parties!
STATE PROCESS
The State’s review of our Locally
Approved SMP (LA-SMP) continues with WA Department of Ecology:
1.
The County is currently working to provide Ecology some
feedback on the issues raised by the 300+ comment letters received during the state-wide
public comment period.
2.
After our Response to Comments is submitted to Ecology
(within the next month or so), Ecology will prepare their Findings and
Conclusions along with their decision to A) approve; B) approve with required
changes; or C) deny the SMP. If changes are required, some dialogue may
be required to find complete agreement between the State and the County.
3.
After Ecology approval, the final step is for the Board
of County Commissioners to adopt the new SMP by ordinance as new components of
the Comprehensive Plan and Unified Development Code.
So while the process is moving forward, we still have
a few months to go before final adoption and the new SMP takes effect. Stay
tuned… this email list will continue to receive project updates.
NEWSPAPER CLARIFICATIONS
You may have seen the recent articles in last week’s Leader
newspaper – a few points of clarification are needed:
·
Buffers & Setbacks – While it may seem
a finer point, there is a difference between the terms buffers and setbacks as proposed
by the LA-SMP. The 150-foot distance proposed is a standard shoreline buffer
for stream/river and marine shorelines that fall under SMP jurisdiction.
There are separate 5-foot side-yard and 10-foot building setbacks
proposed as well. Far from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach,
the LA-SMP also proposes 6 options to adjust the standard shoreline buffer when
specific situations arise.
The current SMP has only requires setbacks:
30 to 100-feet for residential and a minimum of 15-feet for commercial and
urban development. The County’s Critical Areas Ordinance has
included a 150-foot buffer for fish & wildlife habitat conservation areas
since early-2008, and has successfully withstood legal challenge. The
City of Port Townsend SMP requires buffers that range from 50 to
200-feet. Other jurisdictions around Puget Sound also have 150-foot
buffers in place (e.g. Whatcom County).
·
SMP jurisdiction – Not all
shoreline areas in the county meet the statutory definition for ‘Shoreline
of the State’. The SMP will apply to all shorelines that meet the
criteria for SMP jurisdiction. Lakes less than 20 acres in size,
rivers/streams with less than 20 cubic feet per second mean annual flow, and
lands under federal or tribal ownership do not qualify.
Thanks for your continued interest,
Michelle
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Michelle McConnell, Associate Planner - LRP Lead
Jefferson County Department of Community Development
Long Range Planning Division
621 Sheridan St., Port Townsend, WA 98368
MAIN
360.379.4450 DIRECT
360.379.4484 FAX 360.379.4473
WEB www.co.jefferson.wa.us/commdevelopment
OFFICE OPEN: 9:00 a - 4:30 p Monday -
Thursday; Closed Friday
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