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7. New structural public flood hazard reduction measures, such as dikes and levees, shall <br />dedicate and improve public access pathways unless public access improvements would <br />cause unavoidable health or safety hazards to the public, inherent and unavoidable security <br />problems, unacceptable and unmitigated significant ecological impacts, unavoidable <br />conflict with the proposed use, or cost that is disproportionate and unreasonable to the <br />total long-term cost of the use or development. <br />8. The removal of gravel for flood management purposes shall be consistent with an adopted <br />flood hazard reduction plan and with the provisions of WAC 173-26, KCC <br />17B.06.070 Dredging and dredge material disposal and KCC 17B.06.120 Mining; and be <br />allowed only after a biological and geo-morphological study shows that extraction has a <br />long-term benefit to flood hazard reduction, does not result in a net loss of ecological <br />functions, and is part of a comprehensive flood management solution. <br />(Ord. 2016-006, 2016) <br /> <br />17B.05.040 Public access. <br />Public access includes the ability of the general public to reach, touch, and enjoy the water’s edge, to <br />travel on the waters of the state, and to view the water and the shoreline from adjacent locations. <br />Public access provisions below apply to all shorelines of the state unless stated otherwise. <br />A. Policies. Pursuant to RCW 36.70A.480, the public access policies of the 2016 2021 Kittitas County <br />Shoreline Master Program shall be considered as policies of the Kittitas County Comprehensive <br />Plan. <br />B. Regulations. <br />1. Public access shall consist of a dedication of land or easement and a physical improvement <br />in the form of a walkway, trail, bikeway, corridor, viewpoint, park, deck, observation tower, <br />pier, boat launching ramp, dock or pier area, or other area serving as a means of view <br />and/or physical approach to public waters and may include interpretive centers and <br />displays. <br />2. New shoreline use and development by public entities, such as local governments, port <br />districts, state agencies, and public utility districts, shall provide public access as part of <br />each development project, unless such access is shown to be incompatible with the <br />Program due to reasons of safety, security, or adverse impacts to shoreline functions and <br />processes. <br />3. New shoreline use and development by private entities shall provide public access when: <br />a. The development would generate a public demand for one or more forms of such <br />physical or visual access; <br />b. The development will impair existing legal access opportunities or rights; or <br />c. The development is not a preferred shoreline use (e.g., non-water-oriented <br />commercial or industrial development). <br />4. Public health and safety concerns associated with community or public access sites shall be <br />adequately mitigated. <br />5. Efforts to implement the public access provisions of this Section shall be consistent with all <br />relevant constitutional and other legal limitations on regulation of private property and the <br />principles of nexus and proportionality. <br />6. Public access requirements on privately owned lands shall be commensurate with the scale <br />and character of the use and/or development and shall be reasonable, effective and fair to <br />all affected parties, including, but not limited to, the landowner and the public.