“Act” means the Washington State Shoreline Management Act (SMA), Chapter 90.58 RCW.

“Active fault” means a fault that is considered likely to undergo renewed movement within a period of concern to humans. Faults are commonly considered to be active if the fault has moved one or more times in the last 10,000 years.

“Additions” means improvements to an existing building or structure, the cost of which does not exceed 50 percent of the assessed value of the total structure or result in an increase greater than 25 percent of the building footprint (up to a maximum of 500 square feet) before the addition is started. Additions must share a common wall (one full side) with the original structure.

“Adjacent,” for purposes of applying Chapter 29.25 PMC, Critical Areas, means immediately adjoining (in contact with the boundary of the influence area) or within a distance less than that needed to separate activities from critical areas to ensure protection of the functions and values of the critical areas. Adjacent shall mean any activity or development located:

“Agricultural activities” means agricultural uses and practices, including but not limited to: producing, breeding, or increasing agricultural products; rotating and changing agricultural crops; allowing land used for agricultural activities to lie fallow, in which it is plowed and tilled but left unseeded; allowing land used for agricultural activities to lie dormant as a result of adverse agricultural market conditions; allowing land used for agricultural activities to lie dormant because the land is enrolled in a local, state, or federal conservation program, or the land is subject to a conservation easement; conducting agricultural operations; maintaining, repairing, and replacing agricultural equipment; maintaining, repairing, and replacing agricultural facilities; provided, that the replacement facility is no closer to the shoreline than the original facility; and maintaining agricultural lands under production or cultivation. Also see definition of “New agricultural activities” below.

“Agricultural equipment” includes, but is not limited to, the following used in agricultural operations:

Agricultural facilities. See “Agricultural equipment.”

“Agricultural land” means those specific land areas on which agriculture activities are conducted as of the date of adoption of a local Shoreline Master Program (SMP) pursuant to these guidelines as evidenced by aerial photography or other documentation. After the effective date of the SMP, land converted to agricultural use is subject to compliance with the requirements of the SMP.

“Agricultural products” includes but is not limited to horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, and vegetable, fruit, berry, grain, hops, hay, straw, turf, sod, seed, and apiary products; feed or forage for livestock; Christmas trees; hybrid cottonwood and similar hardwood trees grown as crops and harvested within 20 years of planting; and livestock, including both the animals themselves and animal products, including but not limited to meat, upland finfish, poultry and poultry products, and dairy products.

“Alteration,” for purposes of applying Chapter 29.25 PMC, Critical Areas, means any human-induced change in an existing condition of a critical area or its buffer. Alterations include grading, filling, dredging, channelizing, clearing (vegetation), applying pesticides, discharging waste, construction, compaction, excavation, modifying for storm water management, relocating, or other activities that change the existing landform, vegetation, hydrology, wildlife, or habitat value of critical areas.

“Amendment” means a revision, update, addition, deletion, and/or reenactment to an existing SMP.

“Applicant” means a person who files an application for a permit under this SMP and who is either the owner of the land on which that proposed activity would be located, a contract purchaser, or the authorized agent of such person.

“Approval” means an official action by a local government legislative body agreeing to submit a proposed SMP or amendments to Washington State Department of Ecology for review and official action pursuant to this SMP or an official action by Washington State Department of Ecology to make a local government SMP effective, thereby incorporating the approved SMP or amendment into the SMP.

“Aquaculture” means the culture or farming of fish or other aquatic plants and animals.

“Aquifer recharge area” means an area through which precipitation and surface water infiltrate the soil and are transmitted through rocks and soil to create groundwater storage. They are also areas where an aquifer that is a source of drinking water is vulnerable to contamination that would affect the potability of water.

“Area of influence” encompasses an area that is two and one-half times the height of a slope. The area of influence applies to areas that have geologically hazardous attributes consistent with an “erosion” or “landslide hazard area” as defined in this section, and PMC 29.25.070, Geological hazard areas. This mapped area surrounds the hazard area from all points for a distance of two and one-half times the height of the applicable slope. An area with a 15 percent slope or greater as its only attribute does not have an area of influence.

“Area of shallow flooding” means a designated AO or AH zone on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). AO is characterized as sheet flow and AH indicates ponding. The base flood depths range from one to three feet; a clearly defined channel does not exist; the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and velocity flow may be evident.

“Area of special flood hazard” means the land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. Designation on maps always includes the letters A or V.

“Assessed value” means assessed valuation shall be as established by the County assessor’s office, unless otherwise provided by a market appraisal institute appraisal.

“Associated wetlands” are those wetlands that are in proximity to and either influence or are influenced by a stream subject to the SMA.

“Average grade level” means the average of the natural or existing topography of the portion of the lot, parcel, or tract of real property that will be directly under the proposed building or structure. In the case of structures to be built over water, average grade level shall be the elevation of the ordinary high water mark (OHWM). Calculation of the average grade level shall be made by averaging the ground elevations at the midpoint of all exterior walls of the proposed building or structure.

“Base flood” means a flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Also referred to as the “100-year flood.” Designated on FIRM with the letters A or V.

“Base flood elevation” means the water surface elevation of the base flood. It shall be referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988.

“Basement” means any area of a building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.

“Best management practices (BMPs)” means conservation practices or systems of practice and management measures that:

“Best management practices, agricultural” means systems of practices, schedules of activities, prohibitions, maintenance procedures, and management measures that prevent or minimize adverse impacts to the environment. Such practices may be subject to varying conditions, which include geographical location, weather, soil or mineral types and conditions, type of crop or livestock, type of mining, and management systems. Generally accepted agricultural BMPs include those practices historically carried out in the region and those practices defined by the State of Washington, Department of Agriculture, recommendations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other professional and industry agricultural organizations.

“Boating facilities” allowed in the City include boat launches and upland boat storage, marinas, and other boat moorage structures or uses. For the purposes of this SMP, boating facilities excludes docks serving four or fewer single-family residences.

“Breakwater” means an offshore structure whose primary purpose is to protect harbors, moorages, and navigation activity from wave and wind action by creating stillwater areas along shore. A secondary purpose is to protect shorelines from wave-caused erosion. Breakwaters are generally built parallel to shore, may or may not be connected to land, and may be floating or stationary.

“Buffer, critical areas,” means an area which provides the margin of safety through protection of slope stability, attenuation of surface water flows and landslide hazards reasonably necessary to minimize risk to the public from loss of life or well-being or property damage resulting from natural disasters, or an area which is an integral part of a stream or wetland ecosystem and which provides shading, input of organic debris and coarse sediments, room for variation in stream or wetland boundaries, habitat for wildlife and protection from harmful intrusion necessary to protect the public from losses suffered when the functions and values of aquatic resources are degraded.

“Building setback line” means a line beyond which the foundation of a structure shall not extend.

“City” means the City of Pasco.

“Clearing” means the cutting, killing, grubbing, or removing of vegetation or other organic material by physical, mechanical, chemical, or any other similar means.

“Cluster” means a group of three or more significant trees with overlapping or touching crowns.

“Community access” means a shoreline access available to a group or community (e.g., homeowners association), which may not be accessible to general public.

“Compensation project” means actions specifically designed to replace project induced critical area and buffer losses. Compensation project design elements may include land acquisition, planning, construction plans, monitoring, and contingency actions.

“Compensatory mitigation” means types of mitigation used to replace project-induced critical areas and buffer losses or impacts.

“Critical aquifer recharge area” means those areas that are:

“Crown” means the area of a tree containing leaf- or needle-bearing branches.

“Cultural and historic resources” means buildings, sites and areas having archaeological, historic, cultural, or scientific value or significance.

“Designated floodway” means the regulatory floodway that has been delineated on the City’s FIRM.

“Developable area” means a site or portion of a site that may be utilized as the location of development, in accordance with the rules of this SMP.

“Development” means a use consisting of: the construction or exterior alteration of structures; dredging; drilling; dumping; filling; removal of any sand, gravel, or minerals; bulkheading; driving of piling; placing of obstructions; or any project of a permanent or temporary nature, which interferes with the normal public use of the surface of the waters overlying lands subject to the SMA at any stage of water level.

“Development permit” means any permit issued by the City or other authorized agency for construction, land use, or the alteration of land.

“Dock” means, as a general term, a structure or group of structures that provides boat moorage or other uses. A dock may be made up of piers (which are structures on fixed piles) and floats (which float on the water’s surface and are typically attached to piles so that they may rise and fall with changes in the water’s elevation).

“Dredging” means the removal of sediments from the bed of a water body by mechanical means.

“Ecological functions” or “shoreline functions” means the work performed or role played by the physical, chemical, and biological processes that contribute to the maintenance of the aquatic and terrestrial environments that constitute the shoreline’s natural ecosystem.

“Ecosystem-wide processes” means the suite of naturally occurring physical and geologic processes of erosion, transport, and deposition, and specific chemical processes that shape landforms within a specific shoreline ecosystem and determine the types of habitat and the associated ecological functions.

“Erosion” means the detachment and movement of soil or rock by water, wind, ice, or gravity.

“Erosion hazard area” means those areas that, because of natural characteristics, including vegetative cover, soil texture, slope gradient, rainfall patterns, or human-induced changes to such characteristics, are vulnerable to erosion.

“Feasible” means, for the purpose of this SMP, that an action, such as a development project, mitigation, or preservation requirement, meets all of the following conditions: (a) the action can be accomplished with technologies and methods that have been used in the past in similar circumstances, or studies or tests have demonstrated in similar circumstances that such approaches are currently available and likely to achieve the intended results; (b) the action provides a reasonable likelihood of achieving its intended purpose; and (c) the action does not physically preclude achieving the project’s primary intended legal use. In cases where these guidelines require certain actions unless they are infeasible, the burden of proving infeasibility is on the applicant. In determining an action’s infeasibility, the reviewing agency may weigh the action’s relative public costs and public benefits, considered in the short- and long-term time frames.

“Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)” means the agency that oversees the administration of the National Flood Insurance Program (44 CFR).

“Fill” means the addition of soil, sand, rock, gravel, sediment, earth retaining structure, or other material to an area waterward of the OHWM, in wetlands or on shoreline areas in a manner that raises the elevation or creates dry land.

“Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas” means areas necessary for maintaining species in suitable habitats within their natural geographic distribution so that isolated subpopulations are not created as designated by WAC 365-190-080(5). These areas include:

“Flood” or “flooding” mean a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland waters and/or the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff or surface waters from any source.

“Flood hazard area” means any area subject to inundation by the base flood or risk from channel migration, including, but not limited to, an aquatic area, wetland, or closed depression.

“Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)" means the official map on which the Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the City.

“Flood insurance study” means the official report provided by the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration that includes the flood profiles, the FIRM, and the water surface elevation of the base flood (44 CFR Part 59).

“Flood protection elevation” means an elevation that is one foot or more above the base flood elevation.

“Floodplain” is synonymous with 100-year floodplain and means that land area susceptible to inundation with a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The limit of this area shall be based on flood ordinance regulation maps or a reasonable method which meets the objectives of the SMA.

“Floodproofing” means adaptations that ensure a structure is substantially resistant to the passage of water below the flood protection elevation and resists hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and effects of buoyancy.

“Floodway” means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas through which the base flood is discharged. Floodways identified on flood boundary and floodway maps become “regulatory floodways” within which encroachment or obstructions are prohibited.

“Floodway dependent structure,” for purposes of applying Chapter 29.25 PMC, Critical Areas, means structures such as, but not limited to, dams, levees, pump stations, stream bank stabilization, boat launches and related recreational structures, bridge piers and abutments, and fisheries enhancement or stream restoration projects.

“Functions” and “values,” for purposes of applying Chapter 29.25 PMC, Critical Areas, mean the beneficial roles served by critical areas, including, but not limited to, water quality protection and enhancement, fish and wildlife habitat, food chain support, flood storage, conveyance and attenuation, groundwater recharge and discharge, erosion control, and recreation. Functions and values may be considered independently, with functions being measured indicators such as water quality, hydrologic functions, and habitat functions; and values being nonmeasured indicators such as local importance, potential qualities, or recreational benefits.

“Geological hazard areas” means areas that, because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or other geologic events, are not suited to the siting of commercial, residential, or industrial development consistent with public health or safety concerns. Geological hazard areas include erosion hazards, landslide hazards, mine hazards, and seismic hazards, as defined herein and specified in PMC 29.25.070.

“Geotechnical report” or “geotechnical analysis” means a scientific study or evaluation conducted by a qualified expert that includes a description of the ground and surface hydrology and geology, the affected landform and its susceptibility to mass wasting, erosion, and other geologic hazards or processes, conclusions and recommendations regarding the effect of the proposed development on geologic conditions, the adequacy of the site to be developed, the impacts of the proposed development, alternative approaches to the proposed development, and measures to mitigate potential site-specific and cumulative geological and hydrological impacts of the proposed development, including the potential adverse impacts on adjacent and down-current properties. Geotechnical reports shall conform to accepted technical standards and must be prepared by qualified professional engineers or geologists who have professional expertise about the regional and local shoreline geology and processes.

“Grading” means stripping, cutting, filling, or stockpiling of land, including the land in its cut or filled condition to create new grade.

“Groin” means a barrier type of structure extending from the stream bank into a water body for the purpose of the protection of a shoreline and adjacent uplands by influencing the movement of water or deposition of materials.

“Ground cover” means all types of vegetation other than trees.

“Guidelines” means those standards adopted by the department to implement the policy of Chapter 90.58 RCW for regulation of use of the shorelines of the state prior to adoption of SMPs. Such standards shall also provide criteria for local governments and the department in developing and amending SMPs.

“Hazard areas” means areas designated as frequently flooded or geologically hazardous areas due to potential for erosion, landslide, seismic activity, mine collapse, or other geologically hazardous conditions, including steep slopes.

“Hazardous substance(s)” means:

“Heavy equipment” means such construction machinery as backhoes, treaded tractors, dump trucks, and front-end loaders.

“High-intensity land use” means land uses consisting of commercial, urban, industrial, institutional, retail, residential with more than one unit per acre, agricultural (dairies, nurseries, raising and harvesting crops, requiring annual tilling, and raising and maintaining animals), high-intensity recreation (golf courses, ball fields), and hobby farms.

“Hydraulic project approval (HPA)” means a permit issued by WDFW for modification to waters of the state in accordance with Chapter 75.20 RCW.

“Impervious surface area” means a hard surface area, which either prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil mantle as under natural conditions prior to development. Impervious surface shall also include a hard surface area, which causes water to run off the surface in greater quantities or at an increased rate of flow from the flow present under natural conditions prior to development. Common impervious surfaces include rooftops, walkways, patios, driveways, parking lots or storage areas, concrete or asphalt paving, gravel roads with compacted subgrade, packed earthen materials, and oiled, macadam or other surfaces, which similarly impede the natural infiltration of storm water. Open, uncovered retention/detention facilities shall not be considered as impervious surfaces.

“In-stream structures” function for the impoundment, diversion, or use of water for hydroelectric generation and transmission (including public and private facilities), flood control, irrigation, water supply (domestic and industrial), recreation, or fisheries enhancement.

“Invasive, nonnative vegetation species” means the plants listed for Eastern Washington in Washington State Noxious Weed Board Publication No. 820-264E (N/6/09), or the latest version of this document.

“Isolated wetland” means those wetlands and their buffers that are outside of the following critical areas and their buffers, where applicable: 100-year floodplain, lake, river, stream, or wetland. Isolated wetlands have no contiguous hydric soil or hydrophytic vegetation between the wetland and any surface water.

“Landslide” means downslope movement of a mass of soil, rock, snow or ice, including, but not limited to, rock falls, slumps, mudflows, debris flows, torrents, earth flows, and snow avalanches.

“Landslide hazard areas” means those areas potentially subject to landslides based on a combination of geologic, topographic, and hydrologic factors.

“Low-intensity land use” includes forestry and open space (such as passive recreation and natural resources preservation).

“Lowest floor” means the lowest enclosed area (including basement) of a structure. An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access, or storage in an area other than a basement area, is not considered a building’s lowest floor; provided, that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of these critical area regulations found in PMC 29.25.060, Flood hazard areas (i.e., provided there are adequate flood ventilation openings).

“May” means the action is acceptable, provided it conforms to the provisions of this SMP.

“Mitigation sequencing” means the process of avoiding, reducing, or compensating for the adverse environmental impact(s) of a proposal, including the following actions, listed in the order of preference, the first being the most preferred:

“Mixed-use” or “mixed-use development” means a combination of uses within the same building or site as a part of an integrated development project with functional interrelationships and coherent physical design that includes a mix of water-oriented and nonwater-oriented uses.

“Moderate-intensity land use” includes residential at a density of one unit per acre or less, moderate-intensity open space (parks), and agriculture (moderate-intensity land uses such as orchards and hay fields).

“Monitoring” means the collection of data by various methods for the purpose of understanding natural systems and features, evaluating the impact of development proposals on such systems, and/or assessing the performance of mitigation measures imposed as conditions of development.

“Must” means a mandate; the action is required.

“Native vegetation” means plant species that are indigenous to the region.

“New agricultural activities” are activities that meet the definition of agricultural activities but are proposed on land not in agricultural use at the adoption date of this SMP.

“New construction” means structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this SMP.

“Nonwater-oriented uses” means those uses that are not water-dependent, water-related, or water enjoyment.

“Normal maintenance” means those usual acts that are necessary to prevent a property’s decline, lapse, or cessation from a lawfully established condition.

“Normal repair” means to restore a structure or development to a state comparable to its original condition, including but not limited to its size, shape, configuration, location, and external appearance, within a reasonable period after decay or partial destruction, except where repair causes substantial adverse impacts on shoreline resources or environment. Replacement of a structure or development may be authorized as repair where such replacement is the common method of repair for the type of structure or development, and the replacement structure or development is comparable to the original structure or development, including but not limited to its size, shape, configuration, location, and external appearance, and the replacement does not cause substantial adverse impacts on shoreline resources or environment.

“Ordinary high water mark (OHWM)” means that mark that will be found by examining the bed and banks and ascertaining where the presence and action of waters are so common and usual, and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to mark upon the soil a character distinct from that of the abutting upland, in respect to vegetation as that condition exists on June 1, 1971, as it may naturally change thereafter in accordance with permits issued by a local government or the department. Where the OHWM cannot be found, it shall be the line of mean high water. For braided streams, the OHWM is found on the banks forming the outer limits of the depression within which the braiding occurs.

“Practical alternative” means an alternative that is available and capable of being carried out after taking into consideration cost, existing technology, and logistics in light of overall project purposes, and having less impact on critical areas.

“Primitive trail” means unimproved and unpaved, but physically defined pathway for nonmotorized movement.

“Priority habitat” means a habitat type with unique or significant value to one or more species. An area classified and mapped as priority habitat must have one or more of the following attributes:

“Priority species” means species requiring protective measures and/or management guidelines to ensure their persistence at genetically viable population levels. Priority species are those that meet any of the following criteria:

“Provisions” means any definition, policy, goal, regulation, requirement, standard, authorization, prohibition, guideline criteria, or environment designations.

“Public access” means physical and visual access. Public access includes the ability of the general public to reach, touch, and enjoy the water’s edge, to travel on the waters of the state, and to view the water and the shoreline from adjacent locations. The following are examples of public access:

“Public access plan” means the City of Pasco’s Rivershore Linkage and Amenity Plan adopted on July 16, 2012.

“Public agency” means every city, county, state, or federal office, every officer, every institution, whether educational, correctional, or other, and every department, division, board, and commission that provides services or recommendations to the public or other such agencies.

“Public utility” means a public service corporation performing some public service subject to special governmental regulations, or a governmental agency performing similar public services, either of which are paid for directly by the recipients thereof. Such services shall include water supply, electric power, gas, and transportation for persons and freight.

“Qualified professional” means a person with experience and training in the pertinent discipline, and who is a qualified expert with expertise appropriate for the relevant critical area or shoreline subject. A qualified professional must have obtained a B.S., B.A., or equivalent degree or certification in biology, engineering, environmental studies, fisheries, geomorphology, landscape architecture, forestry or related field, and two years of related work experience.

“Recreational development” means the modification of the natural or existing environment to accommodate commercial and public facilities designed and used to provide recreational opportunities to the public. Commercial recreational development should be consistent with commercial development defined herein.

“Recreational vehicle” means a vehicle designed primarily for recreational camping, travel, or seasonal use that has its own mode of power or is mounted on or towed by another vehicle, including but not limited to travel trailers, folding camping trailers, truck campers, motor homes, motorized boats, and multi-use vehicles or any structure inspected, approved, and designated a recreational vehicle by and bearing the insignia of the State of Washington or any other state or federal agency having the authority to approve recreational vehicles.

“Research and monitoring” includes activities associated with identifying data, and collecting, monitoring, and evaluating scientific data and information to support water, fisheries, and other ecological services management, restoration, and operational activities. Example activities that could be included under this category include installing and operating stream and water quality monitoring gauges, collecting fisheries data using a trap or other devices, setting up and using equipment to collect sediment data, and other data collection activities that need to utilize the shoreline and waters of the state to meet public objectives.

“Residential development” entails one or more buildings, structures, lots, parcels or portions thereof that are designed, used, or intended to be used as a place of abode for human beings. These include single-family residences, residential subdivisions, short residential subdivisions, attached dwellings, and all accessory uses or structures normally associated with residential uses. Accessory residential uses include garages, sheds, tennis courts, swimming pools, parking areas, fences, cabanas, saunas, and guest cottages. Hotels, motels, dormitories, or any other type of overnight or transient housing is excluded from the residential category and must be considered commercial uses depending on project characteristics.

“Restore,” “restoration,” or “ecological restoration” means the reestablishment or upgrading of impaired natural or enhanced ecological shoreline processes or functions. This may be accomplished through measures, including, but not limited to, revegetation, removal of intrusive shoreline structures, and removal or treatment of toxic materials. Restoration does not imply a requirement for returning the shoreline area to pre-aboriginal or pre-European settlement conditions.

“Riparian habitat” means areas adjacent to aquatic systems with flowing water that contain elements of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems that mutually influence each other.

“Salmonid” means a member of the fish family Salmonidae, including: King, Chinook, Coho, chum, sockeye, and pink salmon; cutthroat, brook, brown, rainbow, and steelhead trout; kokanee; and native char (bull trout and Dolly Varden).

“Section 404 Permit” means a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the placement of dredge or fill material waterward of the OHWM or clearing in waters of the United States, including wetlands, in accordance with 33 USC § 1344.

“Seismic hazard areas” means areas that are subject to severe risk of damage as a result of earthquake-induced ground shaking, slope failure, settlement, or soil liquefaction.

“Shall” means a mandate; the action must be done.

“Shoreline areas” and “shoreline jurisdiction” means all “shorelines of the state” and “shorelands” as defined in RCW 90.58.030.

“Shoreline Master Program” means the comprehensive use plan for a described area and the use regulations, together with maps, diagrams, charts, or other descriptive material and text, a statement of desired goals, and standards developed in accordance with the policies enunciated in RCW 90.58.020. As provided in RCW 36.70A.480, the goals and policies of an SMP for a county or city approved under Chapter 90.58 RCW shall be considered an element of the county or City’s Comprehensive Plan. All other portions of the SMP for a county or city adopted under Chapter 90.58 RCW, including use regulations, shall be considered a part of the county or city’s development regulations.

“Shoreline modifications” means those actions that modify the physical configuration or qualities of the shoreline area, usually through the construction of a physical element such as a dike, breakwater, pier, weir, dredged basin, fill, bulkhead, or other shoreline structure. They can include other actions, such as clearing, grading, or application of chemicals.

“Shoreline stabilization” means actions taken to address erosion impacts to property and dwellings, businesses, or structures caused by natural processes such as current, flood, wind, or wave action. These actions include structural and nonstructural methods. Nonstructural methods include building setbacks, relocation of the structure to be protected, groundwater management, and planning and regulatory measures to avoid the need for structural stabilization.

“Should” means that the particular action is required unless there is a demonstrated, compelling reason, based on policy of the SMA and this SMP, against taking the action.

“Significant adverse environmental impacts” (as used in State Environmental Policy Act [SEPA]) means a reasonable likelihood of more than a moderate adverse impact on environmental quality (WAC 197-11-794).

“Significant vegetation removal” means the removal or alteration of trees, shrubs, and/or ground cover by clearing, grading, cutting, burning, chemical means, or other activity that causes significant ecological impacts on functions provided by such vegetation. The removal of invasive or noxious weeds does not constitute significant vegetation removal. Tree pruning, not including tree topping, where it does not affect ecological functions, does not constitute significant vegetation removal.

“Site assessment requirements” means requirements for critical area report.

“Snag” means the remaining trunk of a dying, diseased, or dangerous tree that is reduced in height and stripped of all live branches.

“Special flood hazard area” means an area subject to a base or 100-year flood; areas of special flood hazard are shown on a flood hazard boundary map or flood insurance rate map as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99, AH.

“Species and habitats of local importance” means those species that may not be endangered, threatened, or critical from a statewide perspective, but are of local concern due to their population status, sensitivity to habitat manipulation, or other educational, cultural, or historic attributes. These species may be priority habitats, priority species, and those habitats and species identified in the critical areas code as having local importance (e.g., elk).

“Species, threatened and endangered” means those native species that are listed by WDFW pursuant to RCW 77.12.070 as threatened (WAC 232-12-011) or endangered (WAC 232-12-014), or that are listed as threatened or endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act (16 USC § 1533).

“Start of construction” means and includes substantial improvement and means the date the building permit was issued; provided, that the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, placement, or other improvement was within 180 days of the permit issuance date. For cumulative tracking, the permit may extend beyond the specified time frame to the time of permit completion. The actual start means either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site such as the pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation, or the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading, and filling, nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways, nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundation or the erection of temporary forms, nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.

“Steep slopes” means those slopes (excluding City-approved geotechnically engineered slopes) 40 percent or steeper within a vertical elevation change of at least 10 feet. A slope is defined by establishing its toe and top and is measured by averaging the inclination over at least 10 feet of vertical relief.

“Stream” means any portion of a channel, bed, bank, or bottom waterward of the OHWM of waters of the state, including areas in which fish may spawn, reside, or pass, and tributary waters with defined bed or banks, which influence the quality of fish habitat downstream. This includes watercourses that flow on an intermittent basis or fluctuate in level during the year and applies to the entire bed of such watercourse whether or not the water is at peak level. This definition does not include irrigation ditches, canals, storm water runoff devices, or other entirely artificial watercourses, except where they exist in a natural watercourse that has been altered by humans.

“Structure” means a permanent or temporary edifice or building, or any piece of work artificially built or comprising parts joined together in some definite manner, whether installed on, above, or below the surface of the ground or water.

“Substantial damage” means damage of any origin, including intentional and unintentional demolition, sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the assessed value of the structure before the damage occurred.

“Substantial improvement” means any rehabilitation, repair, reconstruction, addition, or other improvement of a building when the cost of the improvement equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the building before start of construction of the improvement. The term includes buildings that have incurred substantial damage or damage of any origin sustained by a building when the cost of restoring the building to its pre-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value before the damage occurred. Substantial improvement does not include any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications, which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and are the minimum necessary to ensure safe living conditions or any alteration of a historic structure; provided, that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a historic structure.

“Substantially degrade” means to cause significant ecological impact.

“Thinning” means the evenly spaced noncommercial removal of up to 40 percent of trees and woody shrubs.

“Topping” means the severing of main trunks or stems of vegetation at any place above 25 percent of the vegetation height.

“Transportation facilities” are those structures and developments that provide for the movement of people, goods, and services. These include roads and highways, railroad facilities, bridges, parking facilities, bicycle paths, trails, and other related facilities.

“Tree removal” means the removal of a tree, through either direct or indirect actions, including, but not limited to: (a) clearing, damaging or poisoning resulting in an unhealthy or dead tree; (b) removal of at least half of the live crown; or (c) damage to roots or trunk that is likely to destroy the tree’s structural integrity.

“Trees” means any living woody plant characterized by one main stem or trunk and many branches and having a diameter of four inches or more measured 24 inches above ground level.

“Unavoidable” means adverse impacts that remain after all appropriate and practicable avoidance and minimization have been achieved.

“Utility” means a service and/or facility that produces, transmits, carries, stores, processes, or disposes of electrical power, gas, potable water, storm water, communications (including, but not limited to, telephone and cable), sewage, oil, and the like.

“Vegetation” means plant life growing below, at, and above the soil surface.

“Vegetation alteration” means any clearing, grading, cutting, topping, limbing, or pruning of vegetation.

“Water-dependent use” means a use or portion of a use that cannot exist in a location that is not adjacent to the water and that is dependent on the water by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operations.

“Water-enjoyment use” means a recreational use or other use that facilitates public access to the shoreline as a primary characteristic of the use or a use that provides for recreational use or aesthetic enjoyment of the shoreline for a substantial number of people as a general characteristic of the use, and which through location, design, and operation ensures the public’s ability to enjoy the physical and aesthetic qualities of the shoreline. In order to qualify as a water enjoyment use, the use must be open to the general public and the shoreline-oriented space within. The project must be devoted to the specific aspects of the use that fosters shoreline enjoyment.

“Water-oriented use” means a use that is water-dependent, water-related, or water enjoyment, or a combination of such uses.

“Water quality” means the physical characteristics of water within shoreline jurisdiction, including water quantity, hydrological, physical, chemical, aesthetic, recreation-related, and biological characteristics. Where used in this SMP, the term water quantity refers only to development and uses regulated under this chapter and affecting water quantity, such as impermeable surfaces and storm water handling practices. Water quantity, for purposes of this chapter, does not mean the withdrawal of groundwater or diversion of surface water pursuant to RCW 90.03.250 through 90.03.340.

“Water-related use” means a use or portion of a use, which is not intrinsically dependent on a waterfront location but whose economic viability is dependent upon a waterfront location because:

“Water resources inventory area” means one of 62 watersheds in the State of Washington, each comprising drainage areas of a stream or streams, as established in Chapter 173-500 WAC as it existed on January 1, 1997.

“Weir” means a structure generally built perpendicular to the shoreline for the purpose of diverting water or trapping sediment or other moving objects transported by water.

“Wetlands” are areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support and that under normal circumstances do support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland sites, including, but not limited to, irrigation and drainage ditches, grass-lined swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities, or those wetlands created after July 1, 1990, that were unintentionally created as a result of the construction of a road, street, or highway. Wetlands may include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland areas to mitigate the conversion of wetlands.

Wetland Categories.