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Overview of the Growth Management Act (GMA) & Critical Areas Ordinances (CAOs)

Overview of the Growth Management Act (GMA) & Critical Areas Ordinances (CAOs). www.1000friends.org. Designate and protect critical areas (All Counties & Cities) Designate resource lands (All Counties & Cities) and protect them (Counties & Cities fully planning under the GMA)

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Overview of the Growth Management Act (GMA) & Critical Areas Ordinances (CAOs)

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  1. Overview of theGrowth Management Act (GMA) & Critical Areas Ordinances (CAOs) www.1000friends.org

  2. Designate and protect critical areas (All Counties & Cities) Designate resource lands (All Counties & Cities) and protect them (Counties & Cities fully planning under the GMA) Adopt comprehensive plans (Counties & Cities fully planning under the GMA) Adopt development regulations (Counties & Cities fully planning under the GMA) Periodically update comprehensive plans and development regulations (Counties & Cities fully planning under the GMA) What does the GMA Require Cities and Counties to Do?

  3. Periodic Update Deadlines

  4. GMA Planning Process

  5. What Are Critical Areas? • Wetlands • Areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water • Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas • Frequently flooded areas • Geologically hazardous areas. RCW 36.70A.030(5)

  6. What Are Fish & Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas? [WAC 365-190-080 (5)(a)] • Areas with which endangered, threatened, and sensitive species have a primary association • Habitats and species of local importance • Commercial and recreational shellfish areas • Kelp and eelgrass beds; herring and smelt spawning areas • Naturally occurring ponds under twenty acres and their submerged aquatic beds that provide fish or wildlife habitat • Waters of the state • Lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers planted with game fish by a governmental or tribal entity • State natural area preserves and natural resource conservation areas

  7. GMA Goals • Environment Protection Goal. Protect the environment and enhance the state's high quality of life, including air and water quality, and the availability of water. RCW 36.70A.020 (10) • Must balance goals and requirements • Some goals, such as the environmental protection goal, are more directive than others

  8. GMA Critical Areas Requirements • Designate critical areas. RCW 36.70A.170 • Adopt development regulations that protect critical areas. RCW 36.70A.060(2) • Identify open space corridors within and between urban growth areas (UGAs) including • wildlife habitats and • to connect critical areas. RCW 36.70A.160

  9. GMA Critical Areas Requirements (Continued) • Include best available science in designating and protecting critical areas. RCW 36.70A.172(1) • Give special consideration to conservation or protection measures necessary to preserve or enhance anadromous fisheries. RCW 36.70A.172(1) • Use GMA definition of wetland. RCW 36.70A.030(20) • Use State Wetlands Delineation Manual to identify wetlands. RCW 36.70A.175

  10. Growth Board Elaboration • The requirement to protect critical areas, particularly wetlands and fish and wildlife habitats, means that the values and functions of such ecosystems must be maintained • In no case can CAOs result in a net loss of the value and functions of such ecosystems within a watershed Tulalip Tribes v. Snohomish County, CPSGMHB Case No. 96-3-0029, FDO, p. 11 (January 8, 1997).

  11. Key Process Requirements • Encourage citizen participation RCW 36.70A.020 (11) • Prepare and disseminate a public participation program that provides for early and continuous public involvement. RCW 36.70A.140 • Review and evaluate CAOs. RCW 36.70A.130(1)(a) • Include best available science in the record. RCW 36.70A.172(1)

  12. How to Find Out More About What the GMA Means • Growth Management Act Goal and Requirements • CTED Regulations & Guidance • Growth Board Digests • Growth Board Decisions

  13. Jurisdiction for Appeals (Appeals to Superior Court)

  14. Four Steps to a Successful Appeal • You need to participate in the City or County’s adoption of the CAO Update • The data that shows the CAO does not comply with the GMA must be on the record • You need to file the appeal within 60 calendar days of the notice of adoption • You need to show in the briefing and oral argument how the CAO does not comply with the GMA

  15. Web Links • Growth Board digests and decisions: http://www.gmhb.wa.gov/ • Source for Growth Management Act and state regulations: http://slc.leg.wa.gov/ • State Wetlands Delineation Manual : http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/9694.html

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