Living on the edge: landowner update and discussion

When: 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 27

Where: Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road

More info: contact Coastal Watershed Institute staff at 206-282-3025 or www.coastalwatershedinstitute.org.

Emerging from the Shoreline Management Act in 1971, a Clallam County-specific Shoreline Master Program was developed, but a lot has changed since the 1970s, Steve Gray, Clallam County Department of Community Development deputy director and planning manager, explained – prompting county officials to update the program.

In the midst of the final phases of the update process that began in 2010, county staff wrapped up their series of regional public forums on the county’s draft SMP intended to both engage and educate the public Jan. 14, in Sequim.

About 80 citizens turned out to learn more about the updated program and how it may impact them.

Gray, along with Margaret Clancy with Environmental Science Associates, a multidisciplinary consulting firm hired to help collect data for the update, gave an overview of the 11-chapter program.

The SMP provides county officials with information and regulations needed to manage water bodies and adjoining shoreline in areas where people live, work and recreate, and “focuses on striking a balance between development and economic growth while preserving our unique shorelines and the ecological functions and services they provide,” Gray said.

Hot topics

Included in the plan are guidelines and regulations specific to both aquaculture and buffers associated with construction and residences near bluffs – both topics questioned during the public forum.

According to Gray, the county has yet to receive a permit application for a 30-acre geoduck farm proposed by officials with Taylor Shellfish Farms in Dungeness Bay, but DCD Director Mary Ellen Winborn said the farm will require a conditional use permit.

“Commercial geoduck aquaculture may be permitted in all shoreline environment designations through a conditional use permit,” according to the draft SMP.

Additionally, the updated SMP acknowledges the rate of bluff erosion and proposes updated buffers and regulations “reflective of Clallam County’s conditions,” Clancy said.

“The program is only applied to new activity and construction,” she told questioning forum attendees. “All other existing structures are grandfathered in.”

Because of the county’s “hazardous conditions of erosion affecting bluffs,” Clancy said the SMP includes additional buffers to help plan and protect people as well as the ecological function bluff erosion, specifically referred to as “feeder bluffs” do.

Upcoming talks

To further explore how the updated SMP addresses concerns and issues specific to bluffs, county officials are prepared to present at the upcoming landowner workshop, Living on the Edge, hosted by Coastal Watershed institute.

The workshop is intended to provide information on the ongoing work being done by the institute and collaborators to understand and promote wise stewardship of the area’s nearshore.

“We’re really hoping to facilitate a dialogue with existing and prospective bluff landowners about how we can work together to create solutions to enhance public safety and protect the bluffs that are an integral part of our area,” Jamie Michel, nearshore biologist for Coastal Watershed Institute, said.

The county and the institute are working on “parallel issues” because the institute’s work and research can help inform county officials when updated regulatory programs, like the SMP, Michel said.

In addition to an update on the SMP, officials with the Washington Department of Natural Resources will present their findings on longterm bluff erosion, staff with the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge will talk about their upcoming anniversary celebration and Coastal Watershed Institute staff will present on the organization’s efforts related to the nearshore environment, including the development of a “realtor funding pool for distressed landowners” and protection grants.

Next steps

Before recommending a final SMP to the board of commissioners, the planning commission will host public hearings to receive ample community feedback on the draft.

“I would expect the process and adoption of the plan, at least on a local level, by late spring,” Gray said.

Following the local adoption of the updated Shoreline Master Program, officials with the Washington State Department of Ecology will have final approval and may return the program for additional work.

The Clallam County Planning Commission is scheduled to host a public hearing on the SMP at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 4, at John Wayne Marina, 2577 West Sequim Bay Road. View the draft SMP at www.clallam.net/LandUse/SMP_CurrentDraft.html.