County may ease shoreline rules

Shoreline property owners in King County may be surprised -- and pleased -- by proposed rules for development on lakes, rivers and wetlands. In some cases, the rules will be less restrictive, and the permit process less difficult.

A group promoting environmentally sound development expressed concern about the draft rules, which were released Monday on the King County Web site.

"The conservation community is going to be giving these proposed amendments a very hard look," said Tim Trohimovich, planning director for 1000 Friends of Washington.

The proposed update of the Shoreline Master Program, the first overhaul since it was established about 30 years ago, would still protect shoreline areas and the birds, fish and other wildlife that depend on those areas, county officials said.

"Even though we're trying to simplify, we're not reducing the standards that we expect people to meet," said Harry Reinert, a manager with the county Department of Development and Environmental Services.

The state-required update must be completed by 2009. The county plans to release a more detailed draft this fall. A final version will be submitted to the County Council for review, public hearings and adoption in March. The state has final approval.

The regulations are supposed to protect shorelines, improve public access to water bodies and set priorities for use of shorelines as parks, marinas, houses, businesses, ports or wildlife refuges.

The program applies to marine waters, lakes covering 20 or more acres, larger streams and rivers and land 200 feet in from the shoreline. Wetlands and flood plains are included when connected to other waterways regulated by the program.

The proposal mostly should line up with regulations approved in 2004 for ecologically sensitive areas. Those rules, called the critical areas ordinance, outraged many property rights activists. They enlarged development-free buffers around streams, wetlands and shorelines and required many rural property owners to leave a portion of their property in natural vegetation to help protect watersheds and reduce flooding.

Reinert said those rules were too restrictive in some areas, particularly the regulation of dock building on rural lakes, which the rules effectively banned. The proposed changes to the shoreline program will allow new docks, he said, but encourage people to share docks or use public access points where possible.

In some cases where multiple permits are required, the shoreline permit will be appended to other permits, streamlining the building process.

GETTING INVOLVED

Read the proposed update of the King County Shoreline Master Program: goto.seattlepi.com/r755

Attend a public meeting: June 5 at Carnation Elementary School, 4950 Tolt Ave., Carnation; June 6 at Green River Community College, Glacier Room, Lindbloom Student Center, 12401 S.E. 320th St., Auburn; June 7 at McMurray Middle School, 9329 S.W. Cemetery Road, Vashon Island.

Submit comments by phone or e-mail: 206-205-8090, shorelines@metrokc.gov.