Title
Briefing on Critical Areas Ordinance
Recommended Action
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive a briefing on 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. Staff will provide the Land Use and Environment Committee (LUEC) a briefing on the CAO as it exists today, what elements require updating to remain consistent with GMA, and other issues that have been raised by staff, community members, and Council for possible inclusion in the scope of the update.
Staff Contact:
Stacey Ray, Senior Planner, Community Planning and Development, 360.753.8046
Presenter(s):
Stacey Ray, Senior Planner
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, and with each update, the 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) can be found in the Olympia Municipal Code, Chapter 18.32. It addresses through development regulations 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. See Attachment A for brief descriptions of each of the five critical area designations in the CAO, frequently flooded areas, and shorelines regulated through the Shoreline Management Act. ...
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