Clark County SMP: Locally Initiated Amendment

The Clark County Council adopted the locally initiated amendment March 7, 2023. It's intended to align the SMP with recent updates to the county’s critical areas regulations and correct implementation issues. It addresses several separate topics, including:

Decoupling the county’s flood hazard area regulations from the SMP.
Incorporating new critical areas regulations for wetlands and habitat conservation areas and removing exceptions in the SMP that were necessary for incorporation of the previous regulations.
Correcting an SMP exemption for forest practices that's inconsistent with the Shoreline Management Act (SMA).
Revising residential standards to allow for repair, maintenance, and modification of legally existing development within floodways (with conditions).
Updating administrative provisions to better reflect county implementation.

We'll compare the county's proposed program to the requirements of the Shoreline Management Act and the Shoreline Master Program Guidelines. Based on the comparison, we'll decide whether to:

Approve the program as is
Approve with recommended changes
Send the proposed program back to the county with required changes to meet statutory and rule requirements; recommended changes may also be included with the required changes

Public comment period

Opens: May 1, 2023
Closes: June 1, 2023

All interested parties are invited to provide comment during this public comment period. There are several ways to provide comments. You need to submit your comments only once.

Submit written comments and questions:

Comment online
Mail to: Tess Brandon
Washington Department of Ecology
Southwest Regional Office
PO Box 47775
Olympia, WA 98504-7775
Questions: tess.brandon@ecy.wa.gov or 564-200-3016

Comments must be received no later than June 1, 2023.

Documents related for public review and comment

Note: All documents are PDF files.

Paper copies are available for review by appointment at the following location:

Washington Department of Ecology
Southwest Regional Office
300 Desmond Drive SE
Lacey, WA 98503

Staff Contact: Tess Brandon
tess.brandon@ecy.wa.gov
564-200-3016

Next steps: Response to public comment and decision

A summary of comments will be posted here a few weeks after the comment period closes. We'll also post the county’s response to comments and a notice of our decision when they become available. Please check back.

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