Title
Critical Areas Ordinance
Recommended Action
City Manager Recommendation:
Guidance on an approach to updating the City's Critical Areas Ordinance.
Report
Issue:
The Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) requires that the City of Olympia review and update as needed its Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) by June 30, 2016. As a follow-up to a briefing provided by staff on June 23, 2015, staff will provide the Land Use and Environment Committee (LUEC) options for how to approach an update to the City's Critical Areas Ordinance, and specifically in regards to locally important species and habitat.
Staff Contact:
Stacey Ray, Senior Planner, Community Planning and Development, 360.753.8046
Presenter(s):
Keith Stahley, Director, Community Planning and Development, 360.753.8227
Background and Analysis:
In 1990, with passage of the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA), comprehensive planning for critical areas became a requirement for cities. However, Olympia has been protecting critical areas for many decades through management of land it owns, educational programs, and regulations on building and development. With each update, these programs and regulations have continued to evolve in scope and to integrate the most current and best available science regarding how to preserve and protect those areas.
The Olympia Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) is the primary set of regulations on development that protects critical areas. It can be found in the Olympia Municipal Code, Chapter 18.32. It addresses five types of environmentally sensitive areas: drinking water (wellhead) protection areas, important habitats and species, streams and important riparian areas, wetlands and small lakes, and landslide hazard areas. Frequently flooded areas are addressed in a different section of the code: OMC 16.70, and marine shorelines and freshwater shorelines as defined by the Shoreline Management Act are addressed in OMC 14.08. ...
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