Skagit Hamilton Lyman Coalition SMP: comprehensive and periodic review update

Skagit County, along with the towns of Hamilton and Lyman, have been working in partnership since 2010 to comprehensively update their Shoreline Master Programs and have recently adopted a draft for our review, as required by state law. 

The towns of Hamilton and Lyman are located along the Skagit River. The proposed amendments to the Skagit County shoreline plan would represent a significant overhaul of the existing plan, which hasn’t been comprehensively updated since the late 1970s. The new shoreline plan would regulate use and development along 598 miles of streams and rivers, 53 lakes and reservoirs, 228 miles of marine shoreline, and all wetland areas associated with these waterbodies.  


We will compare the proposed Shoreline Master Programs to the requirements of the Shoreline Management Act and the Shoreline Master Program Guidelines. Based on the comparison, we will decide whether to:

  • Approve the program as is.
  • Approve with recommended changes.
  • Send the proposed program back to the coalition with required changes to meet statutory and rule requirements. Recommended changes may also be included with the required changes.

The public comment period has ended

The public comment period ended at 5 p.m. May 18, 2023, for the Skagit County and the towns of Hamilton and Lyman coalition's proposed Shoreline Master Program comprehensive update and periodic review.

Next steps: Response to public comment & decision

We prepared a summary of public comments (below) and sent this to the Skagit County Coalition on Sept. 19, 2023. We will post the county and town responses to comments and a notice of our decision when they become available.

Open house and public hearing

We held an open house and public hearing in Mount Vernon on April 24, 2023, for interested parties to learn more about the coalition's Shoreline Master Program and provide comments.

Watch the public hearing on YouTube.

Although our open house and public hearing are independent of the coalition's public process, the coalition provided the hearing location to reduce costs of the overall public process.

Documents for public review and comment

Note: All documents are in PDF format.

Documents are also available for review at the following locations:

Chad Yunge
Washington Department of Ecology Northwest Region – Bellingham Field Office 
913 Squalicum Way #101
Bellingham, WA 98225
chad.yunge@ecy.wa.gov
360-336-9410

Betsy Stevenson
Skagit County
Planning and Development services
1800 Continental Place
Mount Vernon, WA 98237
Betsyds@co.skagit.wa.us

Kym Eldridge
Town of Hamilton
584 Maple St.
Hamilton, WA 98255
Clerk.treasurer@townofhamiltonwa.com
360-826-2882

Debbie Boyd
Town of Lyman
8405 S. Main St.
Lyman, WA 98263
clerk@townoflyman.com
360-661-6411