BOCC Exhibits A-E ECY Approved SMP-Code Amendments

Home Browse Search

Kittitas County Shoreline Master Program Chapter 5 50 March 7, 2016 Kittitas County Board of County Commissioners Shoreline Master Program Adopting Ordinance Kittitas County Shoreline Master Program Exhibit A | March 2016 | Page 50 of 339 inappropriate use of such areas should be minimized by reasonable regulation of shoreline use and development. 2. To implement the policy stated above, it is the intent of this Section to accomplish the following: a. Categorize and designate critical areas that occur within shoreline jurisdiction according to the Shoreline Management Act requirements in RCW 90.58 and regulate critical areas according to WAC 173-26. b. Designate buffer widths to protect shoreline resources, maintain fish and wildlife habitat, and achieve the goal of having no net loss of shoreline ecological functions. c. Preserve, protect, manage, or regulate critical areas that have a direct or indirect effect on conservation of fish, wildlife, other natural resources, and values. d. Conserve and protect the environmental attributes of Kittitas County that contribute to the quality of life for residents of both Kittitas County and the state of Washington. e. Regulate use and development adjacent to shoreline water bodies and within critical areas on adjacent shore lands. f. Guide development proposals to the most environmentally suitable and naturally stable portion of a development site. g. Protect people and property from hazards associated with floods, landslides, erosion, migrating river channels, and other natural processes or events. h. Minimize the costs that the public has to bear to protect properties in hazardous areas or to repair damages associated with floods and other hazards. i. Reduce cumulative adverse environmental impacts to water availability, water quality, wetlands, aquatic and wildlife habitat conservation areas, frequently flooded areas, and geologically hazardous areas. j. Maintain and protect both acreage and functions of regulated wetlands in Kittitas County through general protection standards, enhancement, restoration, and creation. k. Protect water quality by controlling erosion, providing guidance in the siting of land uses and activities to prevent or reduce the release of chemical or bacterial pollutants into waters of the state, and maintaining stream flows and habitat quality for fish. l. Conserve drainage features that function together or independently to collect, store, purify, discharge, and/or convey waters of the state. m. Maintain groundwater recharge and prevent the contamination of groundwater resources to ensure water quality and quantity for public and private uses and critical area functions. n. Promote the restoration of degraded critical areas and their buffers in order to regain lost ecological functions and values and improve the economic health and stability of Kittitas County. o. Recognize that the protection of critical areas and their buffers is important for maintaining hyporheic zone functions.