Saving Shorelines

Time to Weigh in for Shoreline Protection

By Lindell Haggin

Almost lost in the dramatic and important efforts in recent years to protect the Spokane River and the precious open spaces that give the Spokane area its “Near Nature” appeal, is a planning and rule-making process that will have a profound effect on how and whether people in our area can enjoy and have access to our streams and shorelines.

In short, Spokane County’s shoreline protection plan is nearing completion. It’s crucial that people weigh in so that we can ensure that the public interest in protecting some of Spokane County’s most precious and fragile areas is reflected in the planning and enforcement that will guide development in these areas.

The hearing on the proposed revisions to Spokane County’s Shoreline Master Plan is scheduled for Tuesday, February 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the County Commissioner’s Hearing Room, Spokane County Public Works Building, 1026 W. Broadway Avenue.

I can give you a lot of dry numbers about what’s at stake. But allow me, first, to share how I experience the priceless the beauty and habitat of the places whose

fate hangs in the balance here.

My passion is birding. I know if I want to count on seeing birds, all I have to do is go to the shorelines, because it is there that birds find food, habitat, and water. There was an authorized bird-banding site in the Little Spokane River Valley for over eight years. We would catch the same birds in the same net, year after year. What happens when that habitat is destroyed? These song birds are averaging 100 miles a day, some covering more than 300 miles per day. They need places to refuel and rest. You know how the old saying goes, you can bring a duck to water, but if it doesn’t have habitat it will die. We need to save habitat.

At the same time that Congress passed the federal Clean Water Act, the people of Washington, by referendum, adopted the state’s Shoreline Management Act (SMA). We, the people, did this because we recognized that in order to have clean water you need to have intact shorelines. If you have intact shorelines you reduce sediment and so-called non-point source pollution.
We also recognized that you need intact wetlands to protect wildlife. Washingtonians realize that, unlike Oregon where a great deal of shoreline was kept in public hands, something needed to ensure public access (both physical and visual) to shorelines in our state.
In 1975, Spokane County adopted its Shorelines Master Program. For its time, it was a pretty good document. It protected natural and rural conservation lands pretty well, but it didn’t require adequate buffers in other areas. However, it’s worth noting that the regulations for septic systems along shorelines was one of the toughest in the state.
After almost thirty years from its adoption, the legislature realized that the Shorelines Management Act needed strengthening. We had greater population and development pressures that were clearly stressing our remaining shorelines. We also acquired better science to understand the dynamics and functions of shorelines.

In 2003 an update of the SMA was completed. To expedite compliance, the state offered grants to county and municipal jurisdictions for those entities willing to enter the process ahead of their scheduled update.

At the same time Congress passed the federal Clean Water Act, the people of Washington, by referendum, adopted the state’s Shoreline Management Act (SMA). We, the people, did this because we recognized that in order to have clean water you need to have intact shorelines.

Spokane County applied for and received a grant. Regrettably, the county’s main motivation was to pay for staff time to complete the update. It was not to strengthen the program. An example of the problems that the public needs to be alert to is the effort by developers, and the county, to weaken the standards for septic systems in the shorelines area. In the original SMP the standards were 100 feet from Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) and a vertical separation of 10 feet from the water table. Under the new proposed language, the 10 foot separation from the water table has been replaced with language that is ambiguous at best and could allow for a buffer as small as one and a half to three feet.
Now, let’s just pause to think about this. Spokane County’s main argument to state officials for for why they should expedite permits and funding for the County’s proposed wastewater treatment is that it will curtail phosphorus pollution to the Spokane River caused by septic system discharges to groundwater that flows to the river. And, yet, with the other hand, the county is now poised to help developers by relaxing rules for septic systems near the river and its tributaries.
A basic requirement of the SMP is to include citizen participation. In 2004 I was on the Spokane County Planning Commission and was able to participate on the Citizen’s Advisory Committee to update the Shorelines Master Program. The County basically provided one staff person to do all the work on the update.

After a year of meetings, we had struggled through the Goals, Policies, and Map Designations. Citizen participation was terminated at that time and the one staff person developed all the regulations. The update was to be completed and approved by December, 2006. But after receiving grants totaling over $500,000 from the state, Ecology found that the proposed plan did not meet the intent of the SMA or the SMP Guidelines.
Over the past two years the Department of Ecology has been in touch on a regular basis with the county regarding the insufficiencies including the weakening of standards regarding the individual waste water treatment systems. Considering the problems with non-point source pollution of the waters in our county, it is inconceivable that the County would even consider doing that.
The process undertaken by the city to revise its Shoreline Master Program is in sharp contrast with that of the County’s. The city had 2 or 3 planners involved as well as support personnel. The meetings were well organized, dividing into subgroups as needed. There was a much larger group and a number of field trips were planned to allow on the ground observation of the conditions that were present. The advisory group participated through the development of regulations. The entire process was completed within the timeline of two years and the plan has received the approval of the Department of Ecology.

Now we need to make sure that the county meets its obligation to protect the shorelines of the county to the best degree possible. We need to provide testimony that demands that sufficient buffers be provided AND that there be adequate enforcement of the SMP. We can have the best regulations on the books, but if they are not enforced, it is all for naught. I have seen example after example of wetlands being destroyed and then a hole with water in it being provided for mitigation. This is not where want to go. But the one truism about the will of the people incorporated into the state law, is that it only has the force and meaning intended by the 1972 referendum if today’s citizens are committed to making their voices heard. So that’s our challenge.

Come to the hearing and tell the County Commissioners what you want.

Click here to go to the County’s website and download the proposed plan.

Click here to go to the website of Futurewise, the statewide citizen group that focuses on land use issues, for additional information and recommendations.

No Time for Backsliding on Shoreline Protections

By Kitty Klitzke, Futurewise

Several hundred miles of Spokane County shorelines would be in jeopardy under proposed regulatory changes that will come before the Spokane County Commissioners next week. The alterations are included in what is called the Shoreline Master Program Plan (SMP) update and it affects the Spokane River, the Little Spokane River, Hangman Creek, Newman Lake and 73 other bodies of water (see a list at www.futurewise.org/spokane).

Shoreline management plans affect the 200 feet inland from the high water mark of our rivers, lakes and streams. The plans also regulate uses of the shorelines and uses of the water such as docks. Most people understand that protecting these areas is vital to protecting habitat, preserving water quality by mitigating runoff and preserving riparian vegetation which stabilize banks and flood plains, and for maintaining the visual and physical access that make lakes and streams destinations for a variety of users.

A major flaw in the proposed update to the SMP is language that appears to erase the requirement of the Critical Areas Ordinances that require shorelines of the state to be protected by 250 foot buffers. While the current SMP indicates that the Critical Areas Ordinances apply, the proposed update proposes buffers of only 50 feet and does not clearly specify that the Critical Areas Ordinance would govern shoreline buffers.

This change could translate into is a devastating loss of protection for riparian areas and habitat. You could see structures much closer to the shorelines, (contributing all of the stormwater runoff and bank destabilization problems that come with buildings close to waterways) and precious habitat areas encroached upon by development. In simple terms, the commissioners need to hear from their constituents that the Critical Areas buffers must apply in the SMP.

Spokane county has a wealth of lakes and streams, some of them are geologically unique to this area meaning you will not find others like them anywhere else on the planet. But you know their value. If you love your local rivers, streams, and lakes; you will have three vital opportunities to protect them that will not come again for nearly a decade!

There is a hearing next Tuesday the 24th at 5:30 pm in the Commissioner’s hearing room on the Shoreline Master Plan (SMP) for the County, after this Ecology will be setting two important hearings; one for the Ecology’s own version of the SMP and one for the City of Spokane’s SMP. Please weigh in on all three.

This update needs to be an improvement, not a backslide. In addition to the reduction in shoreline buffers, the proposed plan lacks adequate protections to keep development out of channel migration zones. This could cause huge erosion, and runoff issues, in addition to the damage that developments suffer when they are suddenly in the path of a stream, not to mention illegal efforts to stabilize banks that some property owners will resort to when they realize that this is a threat.

There are also several opportunities to actually enhance protections in the plan, one is the Planning Commission’s recommendation for the Quality Area’s Overlay, this is a good idea if the Commissioners adopt it as the Planning Commission recommended.

Regrettably, the Spokane County SMP Update has been a very flawed process. The process for updating the plan has been deprived of staff and resources. The plan itself erodes protections, and ignores public comment and best available science. The County has been so far out of compliance since it ended its public participation process in 2004 that the WA Department of Ecology, despite years of meeting with the county and trying to bring them into compliance, recently announced it would be writing it for the County.

This is a rare move for Ecology and we should be glad to see that someone is finally holding the county accountable. In order to help Ecology make the case for stronger protections it will be very useful to have a large stack of citizen comments advocating for things like more high quality area designations, clear language stating that the Critical Areas Ordinance applies within all shorelines jurisdiction, better protections for all wildlife habitat, improvements to public access, preservation of existing areas with the designation of “natural”, stronger measures to direct development away from channel migration zones (for more suggestions visit http://www.futurewise.org/spokane/spocosmpalert).

For Spokane County it is important to send written comments to the commissioners and the planning department for the record and to be at the Commissioners hearing on the 24th so that you can have your substantive facts in the record tell your story, putting a face to the dry facts.

City of Spokane Shoreline Plan

The City of Spokane has just updated their SMP following and excellent public participation process which resulted in a very good document. But after the regulation was complete, the city council voted to allow a private landowner to essentially re-write the regulation on the shorelines adjacent to his property.

This action which flew in the face of the careful work by staff and the policy advisory committee made up of community members was vetoed by the Mayor. It sets a very bad precedent, and calls into question whether the plan will be upheld. Please ask the Department of Ecology not to approve this change to the City’s SMP! Ecology will be setting a hearing on this issue soon you can check www.futurewise.org/spokane for updates, but in the meantime you can email your request to Doug Pineo at dpin461@ecy.wa.gov.

Your presence at hearings really does make a big difference to decision makers. It is an opportunity that rarely comes and that nothing else can replace. The same is true for the Department of Ecology hearings. They are often our last line of defense on this issues and rarely see the attention from the public that the huge impact of these plans merits. They are busy and facing budget cuts. Enforcement of shorelines regulations is as important as the rules themselves and your testimony will help serve notice that we expect the state to enforce shoreline protections.

Kitty Klitzke is the Eastern Washington Organizer for Futurewise.