“Abutting” means bordering or touching, such as by sharing a common lot line. Lots that are separated by a street or right-of-way are not abutting.
“Accessory development” means any development incidental to and subordinate to a principal use of a shoreline site and located on or adjacent thereto.
“Accessory dwelling unit” means separate living quarters containing kitchen facilities, where the living quarters are contained within or detached from a single-family dwelling on a single lot.
“Accessory structure or building” means a subordinate building or structure that is incidental to the primary or principal building or structure on the same lot, or an abutting lot that meets the requirements in BIMC 18.09.030.I.15.c. Accessory structures include, but are not limited to, solar panels, small wind devices, barns and sheds. Accessory dwelling units are not considered accessory buildings or structures.
“Accessory use” means a use that is customarily incidental and related to the principal use on the same lot. Accessory dwelling units are not considered accessory uses.
“Accretion” means the growth, expansion, build up, or deposit of material associated with a natural fluid flow process.
“Accretion beach” means a place where sediment, usually sand, falls out or accumulates, causing the beach to widen. These sinks are usually, but not always, at the terminal end of a littoral drift cell.
“Accretion shoreform” means the growth of a beach by the addition of material transported by wind and/or water. A shoreline with a relatively stable berm and backshore that has been built up by long-term deposition of sand and gravel transported by wind and/or water from a feeder bluff or other material source. Examples of accretion shoreforms include shoreline features such as barrier beaches, accretion beaches, points, sand spits, hooks, and tombolos.
“Act” means the Shoreline Management Act of 1971, Chapter 90.58 RCW, or its successor (WAC 173-26-020(1), or its successor).
“Activity” means human activity associated with the use of land or resources regulated by this program.
“Adjacent” means that which is near or close; for example, a property located across the road or highway shall be considered as adjacent.
“Adjacent lands” means lands adjacent to the shorelines of the state (outside of shoreline jurisdiction).
“Adjoining” means immediately abutting or separated only by a street right-of-way.
“Administrator” means director of the department of planning and community development, or designee, charged with responsibility for administering the shoreline master program.
“Adverse impact” means an impact that can be measured or is tangible and has a reasonable likelihood of causing moderate or greater harm to ecological functions or processes or other elements of the shoreline environment.
“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.
“Agricultural land” means land primarily devoted to agricultural operations.
“Agriculture operations” means any facility or activity for the production, for commercial or family use purposes, of dairy, apiary, livestock, camelids, ratites, vegetable or animal products, and crop products including, but not limited to, ornamental crops. Incidental vegetable gardening, landscaping and keeping common pets are not defined as agriculture. Agriculture operations include upland fish farms which are self-contained, meaning they do not connect with waters of the state such as: natural or channelized stream, tributary, wetland, or marine water body.
“Alteration” means any human induced change in an existing condition of a shoreline, critical area and/or its buffer. Alterations include but are not limited to grading, filling, channelizing, dredging, clearing (vegetation), draining, construction, compaction, excavation, or any other activity that changes the character of the area.
“Alteration, structure” means a change, modification, expansion, or adjustment.
“Anadromous fish” means species such as salmon, which are born in freshwater, spend most of their life cycle in saltwater, and return to freshwater to reproduce.
“Anthropogenic” means landscape alteration relating to or from human development, use, action or activity.
“Applicant” means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, organization, cooperative, public or municipal corporation, or agency, or the state or local governmental unit, however designated (RCW 90.58.030(1)(d) or its successor).
“Appurtenance” means a structure or development which is necessarily connected to the use and enjoyment of a single-family residence and is located landward of the OHWM and/or the perimeter of a wetland. An appurtenance can include a garage, boat house, deck, driveway, utilities, fences, and grading which does not exceed 250 cubic yards (except to construct a conventional drainfield) (WAC 173-27-040(2)(g), or its successor).
“Appurtenance, primary” means a structure or development connected to a single-family residence and considered essential to the principal residential use when protecting the appurtenant structure from danger from active shoreline erosion. An attached garage or one detached garage and a septic drainfield are primary residential appurtenances (WAC 173-26-231(3)(a)(ii), or its successor).
“Aquaculture” means the culture or farming of fish, shellfish, or other aquatic plants and animals. Aquaculture does not include the harvest of wild geoduck associated with the state-managed wildstock geoduck fishery. Upland finfish rearing facilities are included in the definition of agriculture and are not considered aquaculture for the purpose of this SMP. Aquaculture activities include, but are not limited to, the hatching, cultivating, planting, feeding, raising, and harvesting of aquatic plants and animals, and the maintenance and construction of necessary equipment and buildings. Cultivation methods include, but are not limited to, fish pens, shellfish rafts, racks and long lines, seaweed floats and nets, and the planting and harvesting of clams and oysters.
“Aquaculture practices” means any activity directly pertaining to growing, handling, or harvesting of aquaculture produce including, but not limited to, propagation, stocking, feeding, disease treatment, waste disposal, water use, development of habitat and structures. Excluded from this definition are related commercial or industrial uses such as wholesale and retail sales, or final processing and freezing.
“Aquaculture processing” means a commercial or industrial activity that involves preparing fish or shellfish for human use or consumption by packaging, canning, freezing or other means of final wholesale or retail production.
“Aquaculture, shellfish garden” means the cultivation, harvesting, and incidental preparation of shellfish for personal human use and consumption on public and private tidelands.
“Aquatic” means those areas waterward of the ordinary high water mark.
“Aquifer recharge protection area” means a portion of a development site comprised of native or equivalent vegetation in which existing vegetation, topography and supporting soils are free of development, uses or activities detrimental to the aquifer recharge of the total site area.
“Arborist” means an individual engaged in the profession of arboriculture who, through experience, education, and related training, possesses the competence to provide for or supervise the management of trees and other woody plants. Must be concurrently an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborist to perform any role required of a certified arborist.
“Arborist, ISA certified” means an arborist holding a current International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist credential.
“Arborist, tree risk assessment qualified (TRAQ)” means an arborist who has successfully completed the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) TRAQ training course and assessment and holds a valid ISA TRAQ credential.
“Archaeological” means having to do with the scientific study of material remains of past human life and activities.
“Archaeological resource” means any material remains of human life or activities which are at least 50 years old and which have potential to provide new information in the fields of history and archaeology. This shall include all sites, objects, structures, artifacts, implements and locations of prehistoric or archaeological interest. This shall include but not be limited to burial grounds, campsites, dwellings, and implements, such as projectile points, basketry, grinding stones or pestles, carvings and paintings. This shall include material remains of human life or activities from historic periods that are located at least partially below the ground surface necessitating the use of archaeological methods for study or recovery. “Significant” is that quality in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture that is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association; and
1. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
2. That are associated with the lives of significant persons in our past; or
3. That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic value, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
4. That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information in history or prehistory.
“Archaeologist, professional” means a person who meets the minimum qualifications of the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for a professional archaeologist (RCW 27.53.030 or its successor) and the following: who has designed and executed an archaeological study as evidenced by a thesis or dissertation and has been awarded an advanced degree such as an M.A., M.S., or Ph.D. from an accredited institution of higher education in archaeology, anthropology, or history or other germane discipline with a specialization in archaeology; has a minimum of one year of field experience with at least 24 weeks of field work under the supervision of a professional archaeologist, including no less than 12 weeks of survey or reconnaissance work, and at least eight weeks of supervised laboratory experience. Twenty weeks of field work in a supervisory capacity must be documentable with a report produced by the individual on the field work.
“Architectural element” means aesthetic components of a primary building or structure that accents the overall design of the structure. A chimney may be considered an architectural element.
“Associated wetlands” means wetlands that are in proximity to tidal water, lakes, rivers or streams that are subject to the Shoreline Management Act and either influence or are influenced by such waters. Factors used to determine proximity and influence include, but are not limited to: location contiguous to a shoreline water body, formation by tidally influenced geohydraulic processes, presence of a surface connection including through a culvert or tide gate, location in part or whole within the 100-year floodplain of a shoreline, periodic inundation, and/or hydraulic continuity.
“Average grade level” means the average of the natural or existing topography of the portion of the lot, parcel, or tract of real property which will be directly under the proposed building or structure; provided, that in case of structures to be built over water, average grade level shall be the elevation of ordinary high water. Calculation of the average grade level shall be made by averaging the elevations at the center of all exterior walls of the proposed building or structure (WAC 173-27-030(3) or its successor). Note: This definition of “average grade level” differs from the definition in the city of Bainbridge Island zoning code (BIMC Title 18). Structures within shoreline jurisdiction shall comply with the definition contained herein.
“Backshore” means the accretion or erosion zone, located landward of the line of ordinary high water, which is normally wetted only by storm tides. A backshore may take the form of a more or less narrow storm berm (ridge of wave-heaped sand and/or gravel) under a bluff, or it may constitute a broader complex of berms, marshes, meadows, or dunes landward of the line of ordinary high water. It is part of the littoral drift process along its waterward boundary.
Backshore Marina. See “marina.”
“Bank stabilization” means modification used for the purpose of preventing erosion, protecting channels, and retaining uplands.
“Barrier beach” means a linear ridge of sand or gravel extending above high tide, built by wave action and sediment deposition seaward of the original coastline; includes a variety of depositional coastal landforms.
“Barrier estuary” means an estuary isolated from open bodies of water by a barrier, with tidal exchange occurring through a narrow entrance channel. Usually but not always associated with a significant fresh water source.
“Barrier lagoon” means barrier built lagoons that lack a significant freshwater source, only coincidentally associated with streams of significant upland catchment areas. See “lagoon” and “tidal lagoon.”
“Bathymetry” means the depth of a water body relative to sea level, may include underwater features and shapes.
“Beach” means the zone of unconsolidated material that is moved by waves, wind, and tidal currents, extending landward to the coastline.
“Beach enhancement” means the alteration of terrestrial, tidal shorelines or submerged shorelines for the purposes of habitat improvement, creation, recreational enhancement, or soft-treatment stabilization. The materials used depend upon the intended use. The following are examples of materials which may be used in enhancement projects:
1. Various grades of clean sand or pea gravel to create a beach for recreational purposes.
2. A combination of a rock matrix and sand or other materials to restore or recreate a shore feature or an underwater aquatic environment (e.g., a reef).
3. Use of native vegetation to restore marine riparian habitat functions.
“Beach face” means the steep part of the beach profile below the berm, which is normally exposed to the swash of waves and generally composed of gravel, although it can contain sand or boulders.
“Beach nourishment” means the process of replenishing a beach by artificial means; e.g., by delivery of selected materials excavated from elsewhere and depositing it at one or several locations in the updrift portion of a drift cell. The material is then naturally transported by waves or currents downdrift to stabilize or restore accretion shoreforms and other berms, which may be eroding due to artificial obstructions in the shore process corridor.
“Beach profile” means a vertical cross section of a beach measured perpendicular to the shoreline.
“Beach restoration” means the alteration of terrestrial and tidal shorelines or submerged shorelines for the purposes of aquatic habitat, reestablishing ecological function and ecosystem wide processes such that the ecosystem is self-sustaining.
“Beach scarp” means a steep slope formed in response to the lowering of the beach profile and landward expansion of the beach face into the backshore as a result of wave erosion. A beach scarp is normally associated with a beach berm.
“Bedlands” means those submerged lands below the line of extreme low water in marine waters.
“Benthic community” means a grouping of benthic organisms that live in and on the bottom of the ocean floor.
“Benthic organisms” means organisms that live in or on the bottom of a body of water.
“Berm (beach berm)” means the nearly horizontal portion at the beach or backshore formed by the deposition of sediments by waves. Some beaches have more than one berm at slightly different levels, separated by a scarp. A berm is also a soft-treatment form of shoreline stabilization or a linear mound used to screen an adjacent activity, such as a parking lot, from transmitting excess noise and glare.
“Best available science (BAS)” means scientifically valid information derived in accordance with WAC 365-195-900 through 365-195-925, or as amended, that is used to develop and implement critical areas policies or regulations.
“Best available technology” means the most effective method, technique, or product available which is generally accepted in the field, and which is demonstrated to be reliable, effective, and (preferably) low maintenance.
“Best management practices (BMP)” means industry-established guidelines that are advised to reduce or eliminate anticipated adverse impacts to the environment from construction, development or other human activity.
“BIMC” means Bainbridge Island Municipal Code.
Biocide. See “pesticide.”
“Biodiversity areas and corridors” means areas of habitat that are relatively important to various species of native fish and wildlife.
1. Biodiversity Areas.
a. The area has been identified as biologically diverse through a scientifically based assessment conducted over a landscape scale (e.g., ecoregion, county- or city-wide, watershed, etc.). Examples include but are not limited to WDFW local habitat assessments, Pierce County biodiversity network, and Spokane County’s wildlife corridors and landscape linkages; or
b. The area is within a city or an urban growth area (UGA) and contains valuable fish or wildlife habitat and is mostly comprised of native vegetation. Relative to other vegetated areas in the same city or UGA, the mapped area is vertically diverse (e.g., multiple canopy layers, snags, or downed wood), horizontally diverse (e.g., contains a mosaic of native habitats), or supports a diverse community of species as identified by a qualified professional who has a degree in biology or closely related field and professional experience related to the habitats or species occurring in the biodiversity area. These areas may have more limited wildlife functions than other priority habitat areas due to the general nature and constraints of these sites in that they are often isolated or surrounded by highly urbanized lands.
2. Corridors. Corridors are areas of relatively undisturbed and unbroken tracts of vegetation that connect fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas, priority habitats, areas identified as biologically diverse, or valuable habitats within the city.
Bioengineering. See “shoreline stabilization, bioengineered.”
“Biofiltration system” means a stormwater or other drainage treatment system that utilizes as a primary feature the ability of plant life to screen out and metabolize sediment and pollutants. Typically, biofiltration systems are designed to include grassy swales, retention ponds, and other vegetative features.
“Biological diversity” or “biodiversity” means the range of physical (habitat) and biological (species, communities) components, the ways that species interact with the physical environment, and the processes necessary to maintain these interactions through time.
“Biophysical” means physics of biological functions and ecosystem-wide processes.
“Biota” means the animals and plants that live in a particular location or region.
“Bluff, marine” means a high, steep bank or cliff.
BMP. See “best management practices.”
“Boat house” means a building used primarily for boat storage.
“Boat launch or ramp” means graded slopes, slabs, pads, or planks, used for launching boats by means of a trailer, hand, or mechanical device.
“Boat lift” means an in-water structure used for the dry berthing of vessels above the water level and lowering of vessels into the water. A boat lift as herein defined is used to berth and launch a single vessel, suspended over the water’s surface. A boat lift is a manufactured unit without a canopy cover and may be placed in the water adjacent to a dock, attached to the dock, or as a stand-alone structure. A boat lift may be designed either for boats or personal watercraft. A boat lift with a canopy cover shall be considered moorage for the purposes of this program.
“Boat storage deck” means a deck used for the storage of boats.
“Boating facilities” includes marinas, boat launch facilities, dry storage facilities, marine travel lifts, and fixed marine railways serving commercial, industrial uses or serving five or more single-family residences.
“Bog” means a low-nutrient, acidic wetland with organic soils and characteristic bog plants, as described in Washington State Wetland Rating System for Western Washington: 2014 Update (Ecology Publication No. 14-06-29, October 2014).
“Breakwater” means an offshore structure, usually aligned parallel to shore, sometimes shore-connected, that provides protection from waves. The 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.
“Buffer” means an area of land that is designed and designated to permanently remain vegetated in a predominantly undisturbed and natural condition and/or an area that may need to be enhanced to support ecological processes or ecosystem-wide functions and to protect an adjacent aquatic or wetland area from upland impacts and to provide habitat for wildlife. Buffer widths vary depending on the relative quality and sensitivity of the area being protected. The “shoreline buffer” is a buffer protecting the ecology and resources of and along the Puget Sound. A buffer may be used to protect any sensitive area, including geological hazardous areas.
“Building” means any structure having a roof, designated for shelter of persons, animals or property.
“Bulkhead” means a wall erected generally parallel to and located at or close to the ordinary high water mark for the purpose of containing and preventing the loss of soil due to shoreline erosion caused by tidal action, current or waves. Bulkheads are usually constructed of hard materials and may be built of concrete, large rocks (riprap), or other materials. See also “seawall.”
Canopy Area. See “canopy coverage.”
“Canopy coverage” means the crown area of native shrubs and trees as measured from plan view.
“Central Puget lowland” means the low areas between the Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges extending from Admiralty Inlet and the Tacoma Narrows.
“Channel” means an open conduit for water either naturally or artificially created, but not including artificially created irrigation, return flow, or stock watering channels (WAC 173-22-030(8)(b) or its successor). See also “stream.”
“Channel migration zone (CMZ)” means the area along a river within which the channel(s) can be reasonably predicted to migrate over time as a result of natural and normally occurring hydrological and related processes when considered with the characteristics of the river and its surroundings.
“City” means the city of Bainbridge Island.
“Clean Water Act” means the primary federal law providing water pollution prevention and control. This was previously known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. (See 33 USC 1251 et seq.)
“Clearing” means the destruction or removal of vegetation or plant cover including, but not limited to, root material removal by manual, mechanical, or chemical means. Clearing includes, but is not limited to, actions such as cutting, felling, thinning, flooding, killing, poisoning, girdling, or uprooting.
“Coastal dune” means a transitional zone between the marine and the continental processes and is a part of the sand sharing system between the dune, the beach, and the offshore bars.
Coastal Landform, Depositional. See “accretion shoreform.”
“Coastal processes” is a collective term including the action of natural forces on the shoreline and the nearshore seabed.
“Coastline” means the line where terrestrial processes give way to marine processes – tidal currents, wind waves, etc.
“Commercial development” means those developments whose principal use is for retail, personal and professional service or other commercial business activities. Included in this definition are developments such as hotels, motels, shops, restaurants, banks, professional offices, grocery stores, and laundromats. Not included: marinas, home occupations, utilities, and related utility development.
“Commercial fish” means those species of fish that are classified under the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife food fish classification as commercial fish (WAC 220-12-010).
“Community or joint-use dock” means a structure or structures which consists of a system of piers, buoys, or floats that is intended for the common use of the residents of adjoining parcels or subdivision, short subdivision or community located on adjacent uplands. A community dock is not a commercial endeavor or for the purpose of serving the public. If a community or joint-use dock is designed to accommodate six or more vessels, it is no longer considered a community or joint-use dock, and it shall be considered a marina.
“Community structure” means a building, dock, or other structure which is intended for the common use of the residents of a particular subdivision or community. It is not intended to serve as a public facility.
“Compensatory mitigation” means a project for the purpose of mitigating, at an equivalent or greater level, unavoidable impacts that remain after all appropriate and practicable avoidance and minimization measures have been implemented. Compensatory mitigation includes, but is not limited to, wetland creation, restoration, enhancement, and preservation; stream restoration and relocation, rehabilitation; and buffer enhancement.
“Conditional use” means a use or the expansion of a use permitted on shorelines which, because of certain characteristics, requires a special degree of review and consideration, and may require special conditions to assure that it is consistent with the intent and provisions of the Act and these regulations, and compatible with other uses permitted on shorelines.
“Conditional use permit” means a permit for a use, development or substantial development listed in the regulations as being permitted only as a conditional use, or not classified in this program. Conditional uses are subject to review and approval pursuant to the provisions of BIMC 2.16.165.H regardless of whether or not the proposal requires a substantial development permit.
“Conservation easement” means a legal agreement that the property owner enters into to restrict uses of the land for purposes of natural resources conservation. The easement is recorded on a property deed, runs with the land, and is legally binding on all present and future owners of the property.
Construction Limit Line. In Eagle Harbor, defined on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Drawing, File No. E-8-5-6, dated December 22, 1939, approved by the Secretary of War, July 2, 1940. Used in the master program for local regulatory purposes.
“Contaminant” means any chemical, physical, biological, or radiological substance that does not occur naturally in groundwater, air, or soil or that occurs at concentrations greater than those in the natural levels (WAC 173-200-020(7)).
“Coppicing” means managing of strongly regenerative species of trees and shrubs by an initial heading cut (leaving a stump) and allowing new shoots to grow to maintain live roots. Shoots may be reduced to their point of origin at appropriate intervals of time without disturbing the resulting coppice head (stump).
“Council” means the legislative body of the city of Bainbridge Island.
“Covered moorage” means a roofed floating or fixed offshore structure with or without walls, for boat moorage or moorage of other water craft or float planes, designed to protect a vessel or vessels.
“Critical aquifer recharge area” means areas designated by WAC 365-190-080(2) that are determined to have a critical recharging effect on aquifers (i.e., maintain the quality and quantity of water) used for potable water as defined by WAC 365-196-485(1)(d).
Critical Areas. The following areas are designated as critical areas:
1. Critical aquifer recharge areas.
2. Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas.
3. Frequently flooded areas.
4. Geologically hazardous areas.
5. Wetlands.
6. Critical saltwater and freshwater habitat areas.
7. Critical habitat.
“Critical facilities” means facilities that are essential to the health and welfare of the community, including services that protect life and property. Such facilities include, but are not limited to, hospitals, emergency clinics, police and fire stations, emergency vehicle and equipment storage facilities, emergency operations centers, aviation control centers, and utility facilities such as sewage treatment plants and electric transmission substations.
“Critical habitat” means habitat areas identified by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service as habitat necessary for survival of endangered or threatened species.
Critical Saltwater Habitat. “Critical saltwater habitats” include all kelp beds, eelgrass beds, spawning and holding areas for forage fish, such as herring, smelt and sand lance; subsistence, commercial and recreational shellfish beds; mudflats; intertidal habitats with vascular plants; and areas with which priority species have a primary association (WAC 173-26-221(2)(c)(iii)).
“Cultural resource” means evidence of human occupation or activity that is important in the history, architecture, archaeology or culture of a community or region. Cultural resources include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Archaeological Resources. Physical evidence of ruins of human occupation or activity that are located on or below the surface of the ground and are at least 50 years old.
a. Archaeological resources include, but are not limited to, the remains of houses, villages, camp and fishing sites, and cave shelters; rock art such as petroglyphs and pictographs; artifacts such as arrowheads, utensils, tools, fragments of tools and utensils, obsidian flakes or other material by-products from tool and utensil-making activities; and graves, human remains, and associated artifacts.
2. Historic Buildings and Structures. Standing or above-ground buildings and structures that are at least 50 years old.
a. Historic buildings and structures include, but are not limited to, log cabins, barns, canals, flumes, pipelines, highways, and tunnels.
3. Traditional Cultural Properties. Locations, buildings, structures, and objects that are associated with cultural beliefs, customs, or practices of a living community that are rooted in that community’s history and are important in maintaining the continuing cultural identity of the community.
a. Traditional cultural properties include, but are not limited to, a location associated with the traditional beliefs of a Native American group about its origins or its cultural history; a location where a community has traditionally carried out artistic or other cultural practices important in maintaining its historical identity; and a location where Native American religious practitioners have historically gone, and go today, to perform ceremonial activities. Objects may include petroglyphs, pictographs, rock cairns or other rock structures, trees, and rock outcrops.
“Cumulative effects” means the combined environmental impacts that accrue over time and space from a series of similar or related individual actions, contaminants, or projects. Although each action may seem to have negligible effect, the combined effect can be significant.
“Cutting, vegetation” means the removal of the main trunk or stem of a small tree for the purposes of controlling aggressive or weedy species.
“Dam” means a barrier across a stream or river to confine or regulate flow or raise water levels for purposes such as flood or irrigation water storage, erosion control, power generation, or collection of sediment or debris.
“Davit” means a fixed crane intended to lift boats or cargo.
“De minimis” means minor or trivial impact which cannot be measured or is not quantifiable.
“Degrade” means to scale down in desirability or salability, to impair in respect to some physical property, or to reduce in structure or function.
“Department” means the city’s department of planning and community development.
“Deposition” means the deposit of sediment in an area through natural means such as wave action or currents; may also be done through mechanical means by humans.
“Development” means a use consisting of the construction or exterior alteration of structures; dredging; drilling; dumping; filling; removal of any sand, gravel, or materials; bulkheading; pile driving; 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 Act at any state of water level, subject to Chapter 90.58 RCW or its successor (RCW 90.58.030(3)(d) or its successor). This term may include activities related to subdivisions and short subdivisions, clearing activity, land modification (grade and fill work), building or construction, and activities that are exempt from the substantial development permit process or that require a shoreline variance or conditional use.
“Development area” means the approved portion of a project site that is developed, including the building pad and all graded slopes, all structures, landscaped areas, driveway and parking areas.
“Development regulations” means the controls placed on development or land uses by the city, including, but not limited to, zoning ordinances, critical areas ordinances, all portions of a shoreline master program other than goals and policies approved or adopted under Chapter 90.58 RCW, and subdivision ordinances together with any amendments thereto.
“Dike” means an artificial embankment placed at a stream mouth or delta area to hold back sea water for purposes of creating and/or protecting land from flooding.
“Director” means the director of the city’s planning and community development department or their designee.
“Dock” means a fixed platform structure anchored in and floating upon a water body that abuts the shore intended to provide landing which may include a ramp, pier, and float; generally used as a landing for water-dependent recreation or moorage for commercial and/or pleasure craft. Excluded are boat launches or boat ramps.
“Dock, joint or community” means a dock, pier and/or float for pleasure craft moorage or water recreation for exclusive personal use of multiple waterfront lot owners.
“Downdrift” means the direction of predominant alongshore sediment transport.
“Dredge” means to excavate or deepen a water body by removing aquatic substrate material. Also mechanical or hydraulic equipment used for excavation.
“Dredge spoil” means the material removed by dredging. Same as dredge material.
“Dredged material disposal” means depositing of dredged materials on land or into water bodies.
“Dredging” means removal or displacement of earth or sediments such as gravel, sand, mud or silt, and/or other materials or debris from any stream, river, lake or marine water body, and associated shorelines and wetlands. Dredging is normally done for specific purposes or uses such as constructing and maintaining navigation channels, turning basins, harbors and marinas; installing submarine pipelines or cable crossing; or repairing and maintaining dikes or drainage systems. Dredging can be accomplished with mechanical or hydraulic machines. Most dredging is done to maintain channel depths or berths for navigational purposes; other dredging is for shellfish harvesting or cleanup of polluted sediments.
Drift Cell or Drift Sector. “Drift cell,” “drift sector” or “littoral cell” means a particular segment or reach of marine shore in which littoral sediment movement or drift may occur without significant interruption, and which contains any and all natural sources of such drift as well as any shoreform(s) accreted by such drift. Each normal drift cell contains these shore process elements: a feed source that supplies the sediments (feeder bluff or estuary), a driftway, along which the sediment can move, and accretion terminal where the drift material is deposited (accretion shoreform).
“Drift sills” means small groins which hold sediments in place without blocking longshore drift.
“Driftway” means that portion of the shore process corridor, primarily that lower backshore and the upper intertidal area, through which sand and gravel are transported by the littoral drift process. It is the critical link between the feeder bluff and the accretion shoreform.
“Dune” means a hill or ridge of sand piled up by the wind and/or wave action.
“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. See WAC 173-26-201(2)(c). Functions include, but are not limited to, habitat diversity and food chain support for fish and wildlife, groundwater recharge and discharge, high primary productivity, low flow stream water contribution, sediment stabilization and erosion control, storm and water quality enhancement through biofiltration and retention of sediments, nutrients, and toxicants. These beneficial roles are not listed in order of priority.
“Ecologically intact” means those shoreline areas that retain the majority of their natural processes as evidenced by the shoreline configuration and the presence of vegetation or retain the ability to support vegetation. These areas may be partially developed.
“Ecology (Washington State Department of Ecology)” means use of “Ecology” or “Washington State Department of Ecology.”
“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 both the types of habitat and the associated ecological functions.
“Educational or scientific activities” means controlled and/or supervised scientific activities or educational activities that are associated with an educational or scientific program that results in no adverse impacts to critical areas or their buffers.
“Embankment” means an artificial bank such as a mound or dike, generally built to hold back water or carry a roadway.
“Embayment” is a broad term for an inlet or indentation in the coastline. In this program, it is restricted to features partly isolated from the rest of Puget Sound by their configuration and sufficiently small to limit wave action and beach processes. Also included are wetlands or other back-barrier water bodies isolated from direct tidal influence (surface exchange). Embayments include barrier estuaries and lagoons and may include some stream mouths and the heads of small bays.
“Emergency” means an unanticipated and imminent threat to public health, safety, or the environment which requires immediate action within a time too short to allow full compliance with the master program. “Emergency construction” is construed narrowly as that which is necessary to protect property from the elements and does not include development of new permanent protective structures where none previously existed. Where new protective structures are deemed by the administrator to be the appropriate means to address the emergency situation, upon abatement of the emergency, pursuant to the master program and RCW 90.58.030(3)(e)(iii), WAC 173-27-040(2)(d), or their successors. As a general matter, flooding or other seasonal events that can be anticipated and may occur but that are not imminent are not considered an emergency.
“Engineering geologist” means a practicing engineering geologist who has at least four years of professional employment as an engineering geologist with experience in landslide evaluation, and a Washington State specialty license in engineering geology as specified in Chapter 18.220 RCW.
“Enhancement” means an action or alteration performed within an existing degraded shoreline, critical area, habitat and/or buffer to intentionally improve, increase or augment one or more functions or values of the existing area without degrading other functions. Enhancement actions include, but are not limited to, increasing plant diversity and cover, increasing wildlife habitat and structural complexity (snags, woody debris), installing environmentally compatible erosion controls, or removing nonindigenous plant or animal species. Enhancements are to be distinguished from wetland/habitat creation or restoration projects by the need for on-going assistance to maintain the improved function.
“Envelope” means the enclosing shell of a building’s volume.
“Erosion” means the wearing away of land by the action of natural forces, such as wind, rain, water and other natural agents that mobilize, transport, and deposit soil particles; on a beach, the carrying away of beach material by wave actions, tidal currents, or littoral currents.
“Erosion hazard area” means a landform or soil type subject to being worn away by the action of water, wind, freeze-thaw, or ice, including areas rated in the Soil Survey of Kitsap County Area, Washington, USDA (1980), as having severe hazard of water erosion; areas classified in the Department of Ecology Coastal Zone Atlas as Class 3, unstable, Class 3, unstable old slides, or Class 5, unstable recent slide; soils identified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) as having “severe” or “very severe” erosion hazards; and/or soils subject to impacts from shoreline retreat.
Essential Public Facility. Essential public facilities include those facilities that are typically difficult to site, such as airports, state education facilities and state or regional transportation facilities as defined in RCW 47.06.140; regional transit authority facilities as defined in RCW 81.112.020; state and local correctional facilities, solid waste handling facilities, and inpatient facilities including substance abuse facilities, mental health facilities, group homes, and secure community transition facilities as defined in RCW 71.09.020 (RCW 36.70A.200 or its successor).
“Essential single-family residential accessory structure” means an accessory structure that contains a use or is intended for a use that is essential to a single-family residential principal use. The following structures shall be considered an essential residential structure: a garage or carport, one septic system (including one tank and one on-site septic drainfield), one well house and associated well head, and existing decks attached to the primary structure.
“Estuarine, wetland” means a vegetated wetland that is predominantly tidal, as described in Washington State Wetland Rating System for Western Washington: 2014 Update (Ecology Publication No. 14-06-29, October 2014).
“Estuarine zone, estuary” means the zero-gradient sector of a stream where it flows into a standing body of water, together with associated wetlands. Tidal flows reverse flow in this zone twice daily, determining its upstream limit. It is characterized by low bank channels branching off the main streamway to form a broad, near-level delta. The bank, bed, and delta materials are typically silt and clay. Banks are stable with vegetation ranging from marsh to forest, and the water is usually brackish due to daily mixing and layering of fresh and salt water. Estuarine shores are rich in aquatic and other bird and animal life, and in their natural condition are the most productive of all shoreline habitats in terms of the marine food chain.
“Estuary” means a semi-enclosed coastal body of water in which fresh water and salt water mingle and affect the total land and water habitat. See also “pocket estuary.”
Estuary, Pocket. See “pocket estuary.”
“Excavation” means the disturbance, displacement and/or disposal of unconsolidated earth material such as silt, sand, gravel, soil, rock or other material from all areas landward of the OHWM.
Exemption or Exempt Development. Certain developments as listed in WAC 173-27-040 and Chapter 90.58 RCW are exempt from the definition of substantial developments and, therefore, are exempt from the substantial development permit process of the Shoreline Management Act. An activity that is exempt from the substantial development provisions of the Shoreline Management Act must still be carried out in compliance with policies and standards of the Act and the local master program. Conditional use and/or variance permits may also be required even though the activity does not need a substantial development permit (RCW 90.58.030(3)(e) or its successor; WAC 173-27-030(7) and WAC 173-27-040 or their successors).
“Extreme high tide” means the highest tide level reached in a 19-year tidal cycle.
“Extreme low tide” means the lowest line on the land reached by a receding tide (RCW 90.58.030(2)(a) or its successor). For the purposes of the shoreline master program, it is the contour four and one-half feet below mean lower low water (datum plane 0.0) (WAC 332-30-106(18), or its successor).
“Fair market value” means the expected price at which the development can be sold to a willing buyer. For developments which involve nonstructural operations such as dredging, drilling, dumping, or filling, the fair market value is the expected cost of hiring a contractor to perform the operation, or where no such value can be calculated, the total of labor, equipment use, transportation, and other costs incurred for the duration of the permitted project (WAC 173-27-030(8), or its successor).
“Feasible” means when an action, such as a development project, mitigation, or preservation requirement, meets all of the following conditions: (1) 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; (2) 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.
“Feasible location” means a location that accommodates a development in a manner that achieves its intended purpose consistent with the constraints of the applicable land use regulations and characteristics of the property, including but not limited to lot size, configuration, presence/absence of critical areas and compatibility with adjacent land use/development. Feasibility shall take into account both short- and long-term monetary and nonmonetary costs and benefits.
“Feeder bluff, erosional bluff” means any bluff (or cliff) experiencing periodic erosion from waves, sliding, or slumping, whose eroded earth, sand, or gravel material is naturally transported (littoral drift) via a driftway to an accretion shoreform. These natural sources of beach material are limited and vital for the long-term stability of driftways and accretion shoreforms.
“Fetch” means the distance over unobstructed open water on which waves are generated by a wind having constant direction and speed.
“Fill” means the addition of soil, sand, rock, gravel, sediment, earth retaining structure, or other material to an area landward or waterward of the OHWM, in wetlands, or on shorelands in a manner that raises the elevation or creates dry land. See “landfill.”
“Fill material” means any solid or semi-solid material, including rock, sand, soil, clay, plastics, construction debris, wood chips, overburden from mining or other excavation activities, and materials used to create any structure or infrastructure that, when placed, changes the grade or elevation of the receiving site.
“Fish” means species of the vertebrate taxonomic groups Cephalospidomorphi and Osteichthyes.
“Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas” means areas that serve a critical role in sustaining needed habitats and species for the functional integrity of the ecosystem, and which, if altered, may reduce the likelihood that the species will persist over the long term. These areas may include, but are not limited to, rare or vulnerable ecological systems, communities, and habitat or habitat elements including seasonal ranges, breeding habitat, winter range, and movement corridors; and areas with high relative population density or species richness. “Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas” does not include such artificial features or constructs as irrigation delivery systems, irrigation infrastructure, irrigation canals, or drainage ditches that lie within the boundaries of, and are maintained by, a port district or an irrigation district or company.
“Fish habitat” means habitat which is used by any fish at any life stage at any time of the year, including potential habitat likely to be used by fish which could be recovered by restoration or management and includes off-channel habitat.
“Fisheries” means all species of fish and shellfish commonly or regularly originating or harvested commercially or for sport in Puget Sound and its tributary freshwater bodies, together with the aquatic plants and animals and habitat needed for continued propagation and growth of such species.
“Fisheries biologist” means a person with experience and training in fisheries who is able to submit substantially correct reports on fish population surveys, stream surveys and other related data analyses of fisheries resources. “Substantially correct” means that technical or scientific errors, if any, are minor and do not delay or affect the site plan review process. Qualifications of a fisheries biologist include either subsection 1 or 2 of this definition, and the prior successful completion of at least three habitat management plans.
1. Certification by the American Fisheries Society.
2. Bachelor of science degree in fisheries or the biological sciences from an accredited institution and five years of professional fisheries experience.
“Fisheries enhancement” means actions taken to rehabilitate, maintain or create fisheries habitat, including but not limited to hatcheries, spawning channels, lake rehabilitation, planting of fisheries stocks. Fisheries enhancement differs from aquaculture in that the increase in fisheries stocks eventually becomes available for public harvest.
“Float” means a floating platform that moves vertically with a tide and is anchored or attached to a fixed or anchored overwater structure or an anchoring system.
“Float, recreational” means a float used primarily for swimming, diving, water skiing, or other recreational purpose and not for the moorage of watercraft.
“Floating aquaculture facility” means an open water aquaculture facility which consists of a mooring system and/or floats.
“Floating house” means any floating structure that is designed, or has been substantially and structurally remodeled or redesigned, to serve primarily as a residence. Floating houses include house boats, house barges, or any floating structures that serve primarily as a residence and do not qualify as a vessel as defined in this section. A floating structure that is used as a residence and is capable of navigation, but is not designed primarily for navigation, nor normally is capable of self-propulsion and use as a means of transportation is a floating house, not a vessel.
“Flood hazard” or “flood hazard management” means a long-term program or major project carried out on a single parcel or coordinated on a series of parcels for the primary purpose of preventing or mitigating damage to life and property and to minimize public expenses due to flooding through a comprehensive system of planning development regulations, building standards, structural works, and monitoring and warning systems. Flood hazard management projects or programs may employ physical and/or regulatory controls.
“Flood or flooding, coastal” means 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 of surface waters from any source.
“Flood protection measures” means all development on water bodies, usually rivers and streams, designed to retard bank erosion, to reduce flooding of adjacent lands, to control or divert stream flow, or to create a reservoir, including but not limited to revetments, dikes, levees, channelization, dams, vegetative stabilization, weirs, flood and tidal gates. Excluded are water pump apparatus.
Floodplain. Synonymous with “100-year floodplain,” this is the land area susceptible to being inundated by stream-derived waters with a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The limits of this area are based on flood regulation and ordinance maps or a reasonable method that meets the objectives of the Shoreline Management Act (WAC 173-26-020(17) or its successor).
“Floodway” means those areas or portions of the areas as identified in the master program that are either (1) established in Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance rate maps or floodway maps, or (2) those portions of a river valley lying streamward from the outer limits of a watercourse, and upon which flood waters are carried during periods of flooding that occur with reasonable regularity, though not necessarily annually. The floodway is identified, under normal conditions, by changes in surface soil conditions, or changes in types or quality of vegetative ground cover conditions. The floodway does not include lands that can reasonably be expected to be protected from flood waters by flood control devices maintained by or under license from the federal government, the state, or a political subdivision of the state. The limits of the floodway are based on flood regulation ordinance maps or by a reasonable method which meets the objectives of the Shoreline Management Act (RCW 90.58.030(2)(g) or its successor).
“Foreshore” means, in general terms, the intertidal area between mean higher high water and mean lower low water.
Foreshore Marina. See “marina.”
“Forest land” means all land which is capable of supporting a merchantable stand of timber and is not being actively used in a way which is incompatible with timber growing (WAC 222-16-010 or its successor).
“Forest practice” means any activity conducted on, or directly related to, forest land and relating to growing, harvesting, or processing timber. This includes (1) site preparation and regeneration, (2) protection from insects, fire, and disease, (3) silvicultural practices such as thinning, fertilization, and release from competing vegetation, and (4) harvesting. Forest practices do not include log storage. (See “industrial use.”) These activities include, but are not limited to, road and trail construction, final and intermediate harvesting, precommercial thinning, reforestation, fertilization, prevention and suppression of disease and insects, salvage of trees, and brush control. See WAC 222-16-010 or its successor.
“Frequently flooded areas” means lands subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year, as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These areas include, but are not limited to, floodplains adjacent to streams, lakes, coastal areas, and wetlands. (Also see Chapter 15.16 BIMC, Flood Damage Prevention.)
“Functional grating” means a floor or decking material which is permeable.
“Functions and values” means the natural processes and beneficial roles performed or provided by critical areas including, but not limited to, water quality and quantity protection and enhancement, providing fish and wildlife habitat, supporting terrestrial and aquatic food chains, providing flood storage, conveyance and attenuation, groundwater recharge and discharge, erosion control, wave attenuation, protecting aesthetic value, and providing recreational and educational opportunities. These roles are not listed in order of priority.
“Gabions” means structures composed of masses of rocks, rubble, or masonry held tightly together, usually by wire mesh, to form blocks or walls. Sometimes used on heavy erosion areas to retard wave action, or as foundations for breakwaters or jetties.
“Geologically hazardous areas” means areas susceptible to significant erosion, sliding, or other geological events. They pose a threat to the health and safety of citizens when used as sites for incompatible commercial, residential or industrial development. Geologically hazardous areas include erosion hazard areas, landslide hazard areas, and seismic hazard areas.
“Geomorphology” means the shape or form of a natural surface or object. Also, the study of the forms of the land surface and the processes producing them.
“Geotechnical engineer” means a practicing geotechnical/civil engineer who has a valid Washington State engineering license and a valid certificate of registration in civil engineering, at least four years of professional employment as a geotechnical engineer with experience in landslide evaluation, and appropriate training and experience as specified in Chapter 18.43 RCW.
“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 land form 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 to 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. An activity associated with land modification or maintenance; “grading” means the physical movement or redistribution of the soil, sand, rock, gravel, sediment, or other material on a site in a manner that alters the natural contour of the land.
“Grassy swale” means a vegetated drainage channel that is designed to remove various pollutants from stormwater runoff through biofiltration.
“Groins” means rigid, barrier-type structures extending on an angle waterward from the shore into the intertidal zone. Their purpose is to build or preserve an accretion shoreform or berm on their updrift side by trapping littoral drift to protect a shoreline and adjacent upland by influencing the movement of water and/or deposition of materials. Groins are relatively narrow in width but vary greatly in length. Groins are sometimes built in series as a system, and may be permeable or impermeable, high or low, and fixed or adjustable.
“Growth Management Act” means Chapter 36.70A RCW, as amended.
“Guidelines” means those standards adopted by the Washington State Department of Ecology under Chapter 173-26 WAC, intended to implement the policy of the Shoreline Management Act, Chapter 90.58 RCW, for regulation of use of the shorelines of the state prior to adoption of master programs. Such standards provide criteria for local governments and the Department of Ecology in developing and amending master programs.
“Habitat” means the place or type of site where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows.
“Habitat function” means the use and benefits of physical and biological factors to associated biological communities of organisms.
“Habitat management plan (HMP)” means a report prepared by a professional wildlife biologist or fisheries biologist which discusses and evaluates critical fish and wildlife habitat functions and identifies and evaluates measures necessary to maintain, enhance and improve terrestrial and/or aquatic habitat on a proposed development site.
“Habitat of local importance” means an area representing either high quality habitat for native terrestrial or aquatic species or habitat which is of limited availability, highly vulnerable to alteration, or provides landscape connectivity which contributes to the integrity of the surrounding landscape and which is not adequately protected by other city, state or federal policies, laws, regulations, or nonregulatory tools that prevent degradation of the habitat or its associated species. These may include areas of high relative density or species richness, breeding habitat, winter range, and movement corridors such as breeding areas or human-made ponds.
“Harbor area” means the area of navigable tidal waters as determined in Section 1 of Article 15 of the Washington State Constitution, which is forever reserved for landings, wharves, streets, and other conveniences of navigation and commerce.
“Harbor structure limit line” means a line defined in a harbor to demarcate the limits of overwater structures in aquatic areas and maintain navigation, as recommended by the harbor commission and approved by the city of Bainbridge Island city council.
“Hazard tree” means a tree that has significant structural defects that are likely to lead to failure and possibly cause injury or damage as identified in a report from an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ) arborist, which could strike a “target.” A “target” can be a building or a place where people gather such as a park bench, picnic table, street, or backyard. In the case of steep slopes, a hazard tree can also be a tree that is a hazard to the stability of the slope, as determined by a geotechnical engineer.
“Hazardous materials” means any substance containing such elements or compounds which, when discharged in any quantity in shorelines, present to imminent and/or substantial danger to public health or welfare; including but not limited to: fish, shellfish, wildlife, water quality, and other shoreline features and property.
“Hazardous substance” means any liquid, solid, gas, or sludge, including any material, substance, product, commodity, or waste, regardless of quantity, that exhibits any of the physical, chemical or biological properties described in WAC 173-303-090 or 173-303-100.
“Hedge” means a line of closely spaced trees and/or shrubs intentionally planted and/or maintained along a property boundary or landscape border for privacy, screening, safety, or similar function, which typically requires ongoing pruning or shearing to maintain its intended function and/or reasonable use of nearby developed areas.
“Height” means the distance measured from the average grade level to the highest point of a structure. Television antennas, chimneys, and similar structures or appurtenances shall not be used in calculating height except where they obstruct the view of residences adjoining such shorelines. Temporary construction equipment is excluded in this calculation (WAC 173-27-030(9) or its successor). For all overwater structures, height shall be measured from the ordinary high water mark.
“High bluff” means an area with slope greater than 40 percent and height greater than 15 feet, often unstable or with visible face sediment source often from backshore. This term is used to identify geomorphic classes for the 2004 Nearshore Assessment completed by Battelle for the city.
“Hook” means a spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel which turns landward at its outer end.
“HPA” means hydraulic project approval. The permit issued by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife pursuant to the State Hydraulic Code, Chapter 75.20 RCW or its successor.
“Hydric soils” means soils which are saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part or have had a history of being wet long enough to periodically produce anaerobic conditions, thereby influencing the growth of plants (WAC 173-22-030(5) or its successor). The presence of hydric soil shall be determined following methods identified by the Department of Ecology.
“Hydrogeologist” means a practicing hydrogeologist who has at least four years of professional employment as a hydrogeologist with experience in the specific subject area in which they are providing a report, and a Washington specialty license in hydrogeology as specified in Chapter 18.220 RCW.
“Hydrophytes” means those plants capable of growing in water or on a substrate that is at least periodically deficient in oxygen as a result of excessive water content. The presence of hydrophytic vegetation shall be determined following methods identified by the Department of Ecology.
“Impact” means an action producing a significant causal effect of the whole or part of a given area.
“Impoundment” means the retention or trapping of sediment in a location, either by natural or structural means.
“In-kind compensation” means to replace wetlands, biota, or other organisms with substitute flora or fauna whose characteristics closely match those destroyed, displaced, or degraded by an activity.
“Industrial development” means facilities for processing, manufacturing, fabrication or storage of goods or materials, including but not limited to oil, metal or mineral product refining, power generating facilities, including hydropower, ship building and major repair, storage and repair of large trucks and other large vehicles or heavy equipment, related storage of fuels, commercial storage and repair of fishing gear, warehousing construction contractors’ offices and material/equipment storage yards, wholesale trade or storage, and log storage on land or water, together with necessary accessory uses such as parking, loading, and waste storage and treatment. Excluded from this definition are mining, including on-site processing of raw materials, and off-site utility, solid waste, road or railway development, and methane digesters that are accessory to an agricultural use.
“Industrial use” means uses intended primarily to provide for heavy commercial water-dependent uses such as ship and boat building, haul out and repair and related uses serving boating needs.
“Infeasible” means not feasible. See “feasible.”
“Inshore” means the zone of the beach profile extending waterward from the foreshore to just beyond the breaker.
“Intertidal” means the substream area exposed at low tides and inundated at high tides, situated from the extreme low water of spring tides (mean lower-low water, MLLW) to the upper limit of spray or influence of ocean-driven salts (mean higher-high water, MHHW).
“Invasive species” means (1) nonnative (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and (2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health, or as amended by the United States Department of Agriculture National Invasive Species Information Center (NISIC).
“Jetty” means a structure that is generally perpendicular to shore extending through or past the intertidal zone. It is built at harbor entrances or river mouths mainly to prevent shoaling or accretion from littoral drift in entrance channels, which may or may not be dredged. A jetty also serves to protect a channel from storm waves or cross currents, and to stabilize inlets through barrier beaches. On the West Coast and in this region, most jetties are riprap mound construction.
“Lagoon” means a shallow body of water, such as a pond or a lake, isolated from Puget Sound by a barrier beach or other narrow body of land. Lagoons may or may not have a permanent tidal connection to the sea. See also “tidal lagoon” and “barrier lagoon.”
“Land disturbing activity” means any activity that results in a change in the existing soil cover (both vegetative and nonvegetative) and/or the existing soil topography. Land disturbing activities include, but are not limited to, clearing, grading, filling and excavation. Compaction that is associated with stabilization of structures and road construction shall also be considered a land disturbing activity. Vegetation maintenance practices are not considered land disturbing activity. Stormwater facility maintenance is not considered land disturbing activity if conducted according to established standards and procedures.
“Land division” means any division of land subject to the city’s subdivision design standards (Chapter 17.12 BIMC).
“Land use” means the development or activities that occur or are allowed to occur on a particular property.
“Landfill” means the placement of soil, sand, rock, gravel, existing sediment or other material (excluding solid waste) in upland areas, landward of the OHWM, generally to raise the elevation.
“Landslide” is a general term covering a wide variety of mass movement landforms and processes involving the downslope transport, under gravitational influence, of soil and rock material en masse; included are debris flows, debris avalanches, earthflows, mudflows, slumps, mudslides, rock slides, and rock falls.
“Landslide hazard area setback” means an area contiguous to a landslide hazard area sufficient in depth to meet the development standards set forth in BIMC 16.12.030.B.5.k as determined by a geological hazards assessment prepared in accordance with BIMC 16.12.030.B.5.n.v.
“Landslide hazard areas” means areas which are at risk of mass movement due to a combination of geologic, topographic, and hydrologic factors. Landslide hazard areas include the following:
1. Areas characterized by slopes greater than 15 percent having springs or groundwater seepage and having impermeable soils (typically silt and clay) overlain or frequently interbedded with permeable granular soils (predominantly sand and gravel);
2. Any area potentially unstable due to rapid stream incision or stream bank erosion;
3. Any area located on an alluvial fan, debris flow deposit, or in a debris flowpath, presently or potentially subject to impacts or inundation by debris flows or deposition of stream-transported sediments;
4. Any area with a slope of 40 percent or greater and with a vertical relief of 10 or more feet except areas composed of competent consolidated rock;
5. Any area designated or mapped as class U, UOS, or URS by the Department of Ecology Coastal Zone Atlas and/or mapped as a landslide or scarp on the USGS Surface Geology Map of Bainbridge Island (Haugerud, 2001).
“Landward” means in a direction toward shoreland areas.
“Large woody debris (LWD)” means, generally, naturally occurring material that is recruited during storms from downed trees in rivers, streams or other waters.
Launch. See “boat launch.”
“Levee” means a large dike or embankment, often having an access road along the top, which is designed as part of a system to protect land from floods.
“Limited utility extension” means the extension of natural gas, electricity, telephone, water, or sewer service where all of the following are met: (1) the extension is categorically exempt under the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) (see WAC 197-11-800(23) or its successor for the utility improvements which are categorically exempt under SEPA), (2) the extension will serve existing uses that are in compliance with the Shoreline Management Act, and (3) the project does not involve the construction of more than 2,500 linear feet of utility lines or pipes within shoreline jurisdiction.
“Liquefaction” means a process in which a water-saturated soil, upon shaking, suddenly loses strength and behaves as a fluid.
“Littoral” means of or pertaining to the shore.
Littoral Cell. See “drift cell.”
“Littoral drift” means the natural process of sediment movement, particularly sand and gravel along the shoreline in the nearshore zone by waves and currents. (See also “drift cell” and “driftway.”)
Littoral Transport. See “longshore transport.”
“Live-aboard vessel” means a vessel licensed and designed for use as a mobile structure with adequate self-propulsion and steering equipment to be operated as a vessel, but which is principally used as an overwater residence. Principal use as an overwater residence means essentially full-time occupancy within the city’s jurisdiction for a total of more than 60 days, whether or not consecutive, in any calendar year.
“Longshore current” means the littoral current in the breaker zone moving essentially parallel to the shore.
“Longshore transport” means transport of sedimentary material parallel to the shore.
“Low bank” means an area with a slope often greater than 15 percent and less than 40 percent, height 15 feet or less, generally narrow beach with high water line at or on the bank. Bedrock terrace is considered low bank if characterized by a sand and gravel beach, backed by low scarp. This term is used to identify geomorphic classes for the 2004 Nearshore Assessment completed by Battelle for the city.
“Low impact development (LID)” means a stormwater and land use management strategy that strives to mimic predisturbance hydrologic processes of infiltration, filtration, storage, evaporation and transpiration by emphasizing conservation, use of on-site natural features, site planning, and distributed stormwater management practices that are integrated into a project design.
“Low impact development best management practices (LID BMPs)” means distributed stormwater management practices, integrated into a project design, that emphasize predisturbance hydrologic processes of infiltration, filtration, storage, evaporation, and transpiration. LID BMPs include, but are not limited to: bioretention, rain gardens, permeable pavements, roof downspout controls, dispersion, soil quality and depth, minimal excavation foundations, vegetated roofs, and water reuse.
Maintenance. See “normal maintenance” and “normal repair.”
“Marina” means a facility with the primary purpose of providing moorage for six or more vessels, which consists of a system of piers, docks, buoys, or floats. Foreshore marinas are located landward of the OHWM. There are two common types of backshore marinas, one with wet moorage that is dredged out of the land to artificially create a basin, and the other, dry moorage, which has upland storage with a hoist, marine travel lift, or ramp for water access. Open water marinas, including open water moorage and anchorage areas, are generally located in the center of a water body to provide moorage in addition to any marinas and docks along the edge of the water body.
Marine Bluffs. See “bluff, marine.”
“Marine railway” means a fixed set of rails running from the upland area into the water upon which a cart or dolly can carry a boat to be launched.
“Marine riparian zone” means the transition zone between the nearshore and terrestrial ecotones. See also “riparian vegetation.”
“Marine travel lift” means a mechanical device that can hoist vessels off trailers and transport them into the water. Often associated with dry land moorage.
“Marshes, bogs, and swamps” means lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where saturation with water is the dominant factor determining plant and animal communities and soil development. Such lands must have one or more of the following attributes: (1) at least periodically, the land predominantly supports hydrophytes, and/or (2) the substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil (WAC 173-22-030(10) or its successor). See “hydrophytes,” “hydric soils.”
“Marsh/lagoon” means protected embayment, often consisting of fluvial sediment sources, with a substrate composed of fine sediments and diagnostic salt marsh vegetation. Lagoons may empty completely at low tide (extensive tide flats) and may have a residual basin that holds water at low tide. This term is used to identify geomorphic classes for the 2004 Nearshore Assessment completed by Battelle for the city.
“Mean higher-high water (MHHW)” means the plane of the arithmetic mean of the higher of two daily high tides calculated from the most recent 19-year tidal cycle.
“Mean low water (MLW)” means the plane of the arithmetic mean of all low tides calculated from the most recent 19-year tidal cycle.
“Mean lower-low water (MLLW)” means the plane of arithmetic mean of the lower of two daily low tides calculated from the most recent 19-year tidal cycle (datum plane 0.0).
“Mean sea level” means the average height of the surface of the sea for all stages of the tide over a 19-year period, usually determined from hourly height readings.
“Midden” means an ancient refuse heap. Often a source of archaeological material.
“Mining” means removal and primary processing of naturally occurring materials from the earth for economic use. “Processing” includes screening, crushing, stockpiling – all of which utilize materials removed from the site where the processing activity is located. Processing does not include the manufacture of molded or cast concrete, or asphalt products, asphalt mixing operations, or concrete batching operations.
“Mitigation” means measures used to avoid, minimize or alleviate adverse impacts of development on ecological functions or ecosystem-wide processes. Mitigation must follow mitigation sequencing requirements of WAC 173-26-201(2)(e) and includes:
1. Avoiding, minimizing or compensating for adverse impacts, in the following order of preference:
a. Avoiding the impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action;
b. Minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation, by using appropriate technology, or by taking affirmative steps to avoid or reduce impacts;
c. Rectifying the impacts by repairing, rehabilitating or restoring the affected environment;
d. Reducing or eliminating the impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the action;
e. Compensating for the impact by replacing, enhancing, or providing substitute resources or environments; and
f. Monitoring the impact and the compensation project and taking appropriate corrective measures. Mitigation for individual action may include a combination of the above measures; and
2. The following specific categories:
a. Mitigation, compensatory: replacing project-induced critical area losses or impacts, including, but not limited to, establishment, reestablishment, rehabilitation or enhancement.
b. Mitigation, establishment: mitigation performed to intentionally establish a critical area (e.g., wetland) at a site where it does not currently exist.
c. Mitigation, reestablishment: the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of a site with the goal of returning natural or historic functions to a former critical area.
d. Mitigation, rehabilitation: the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of a site with the goal of repairing natural or historic functions and processes to a degraded critical area.
e. Mitigation, enhancement: the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of a biological wetland to heighten, intensify or improve specific function(s) or to change for specific purposes such as water quality improvement, flood water retention, or wildlife habitat.
“Mitigation plan” means a detailed plan indicating actions necessary to mitigate adverse impacts of development.
“Mitigation sequence” means individual action that may include a combination of the following measures, listed in order of preference:
1. Avoiding the impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of actions;
2. Minimizing impacts by limiting the degree of magnitude of an action and its implementation;
3. Rectifying impacts by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the affected environment;
4. Reducing or eliminating an impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations;
5. Compensating for an impact by replacing, enhancing, or providing substitute resources or environments; and
6. Monitoring the impact and compensation projects and taking appropriate corrective measures when necessary.
“Monitoring” means evaluating the impacts of development proposals over time on the biological, hydrological, pedological, and geological elements of ecosystem functions and processes and/or assessing the performance of required mitigation measures through the collection and analysis of data by various methods for the purpose of understanding and documenting changes in natural ecosystems and features compared to a baseline or preproject conditions and/or reference sites.
“Mooring buoy” means a floating object anchored to the bottom of a water body that provides tie-up capabilities for vessels.
“Mudflat” means low, unvegetated mud substrate that is flooded at high tide and uncovered at low tide.
“Muds” means sediments in which the size of the particles is smaller than 0.0625 mm.
“Multifamily dwelling or residence” means a building containing two or more dwelling units or more than one dwelling unit on one lot, including, but not limited to, duplexes, apartments, and condominiums.
“Native vegetation” means plant species typically found on an undeveloped marine shoreline that are indigenous to the Central Puget Lowland ecoregion and suitable to the specific site conditions.
“Native vegetation equivalent” means plant species that are equivalent in providing the same site-specific functional arrays as would a native species. Functional arrays may include forage, floodwater restraint, hiding habitat, or other physical or biologic roles in the ecosystem, that individually or in combination correspond to those of the native species. As with natives, the role and mix of an alternative species may vary depending on the site and its surrounding ecosystem. Invasive/exotic species shall not be considered equivalent species.
“Natural riparian habitat corridor” means the waterside environment maintained in its natural state, primarily for fisheries and wildlife habitat, and water quality improvements, and, secondarily, for flood control works, while allowing controlled access to avoid damage to the resource.
“Nearshore” or “nearshore zone” means the area of marine and estuarine shoreline, generally extending from the top of the shoreline bank or bluff to the depth offshore where light penetrating the water falls below a level supporting plant growth, and upstream in estuaries to the head of the tidal influence. It includes bluffs, beaches, mudflats, kelp and eelgrass beds, salt marshes, gravel spits, and estuaries.
“No net loss” means, as a public policy goal, the maintenance of the aggregate total of the city’s shoreline ecological functions at its current level of environmental resource productivity. As a development and/or mitigation standard, no net loss requires that the impacts of a particular shoreline development and/or use, whether permitted or exempt, be identified and prevented or mitigated, such that it has no resulting adverse impacts on shoreline ecological functions or ecosystem-wide processes. Each project shall be evaluated based on its ability to meet the no net loss standard commensurate with its scale and character.
“Nonconforming development” or “nonconforming structure” means an existing structure that was lawfully constructed at the time it was built but is no longer fully consistent with present regulations such as setbacks, buffers or yards; area; bulk; height; or density standards due to subsequent changes to the program.
“Nonconforming lot” means a lot that met dimensional requirements of the applicable SMP at the time of its establishment (November 26, 1996), as amended, but now contains less than the required width, depth, or area due to subsequent changes to the program.
“Nonconforming use” means an existing shoreline use that was lawfully established prior to the effective date of this program (November 26, 1996), as amended, but which does not conform to present use regulations due to subsequent changes to the program.
“Non-water-oriented” serves to describe those uses which have little or no relationship to the shoreline and are not water-dependent, water-related, or water-enjoyment, or considered priority uses under the Shoreline Management Act. “Non-water-oriented uses” means those uses that are not water-dependent, water-related, or water-enjoyment. Non-water-oriented use examples include professional offices, automobile sales or repair shops, storage facilities, and automobile gas stations.
Normal Appurtenance. See “appurtenance.”
“Normal maintenance” means those usual acts to prevent a decline, lapse, or cessation from a lawfully established condition (WAC 173-27-040(2)(b) or its successor). (See “normal repair.”) Normal maintenance does not include:
1. Use of fertilizer or pesticide application in wetlands, fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas, or their buffers;
2. Redigging ditches in wetlands or their buffers to expand the depth or width beyond the original ditch dimensions.
Normal Protective Bulkhead. See “bulkhead.”
“Normal repair” means to restore a structure or development to a lawfully established state comparable to its original condition within a reasonable period after decay or partial destruction, except where repair involves total replacement which is not common practice, or causes substantial adverse effects to the shoreline resource or environment. This does not include any activities that change the character, scope or size of the original structure or development beyond the original design (WAC 173-27-040(2)(b) or its successor). (See “normal maintenance.”)
“Obligate vegetation” means the sum total of macrophytic plant life that occurs in areas where the frequency (greater than 99 percent of the time in wetlands) and duration of inundation or soil saturation produce permanently or periodically saturated soils of sufficient duration to exert a controlling influence on the plant species present. USACE 1987 Wetland Delineation Manual.
“OHWM” or “ordinary high water mark” means that mark that will be formed 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, that the soil has a character distinct from that of the abutting upland in respect to vegetation as that condition existed on June 1, 1971, as it may naturally change thereafter, or as it may change thereafter in accordance with permits issued by the city or Washington State Department of Ecology; provided, that in any area where the ordinary high water mark cannot be found, the ordinary high water mark adjoining salt water shall be the line of mean higher high water and the ordinary high water mark adjoining fresh water shall be the line of mean high water. (See RCW 90.58.030(2)(b) or its successor and WAC 173-22-030(6) or its successor.)
“Offshore” means the area waterward of the breaker zone, extending in a direction waterward from the shore.
“Oil/water separator” means specialized catch basins that are designed to trap oil and other materials lighter than water in the basin while allowing the water to escape through the drainage system.
“Open coastal inlets” describes inlets or estuaries whose size or configuration precludes significant wave action, but where the inlet itself is not significantly enclosed by a barrier or other restriction.
Open Space. See BIMC Title 18.
“Open water moorage and anchorage area” means a designated area of state-owned aquatic lands leased for the moorage and anchorage of vessels that does not abut uplands and does not include a built connection to the uplands. Open water moorage and anchorage areas are leased only by municipalities in accordance with WAC 332-30-139 and subject to the restrictions therein.
“Outfall” means a structure extending into a body of water for the purpose of discharging an effluent (sewage, storm runoff, cooling water).
“Overwash” means the flow of marine waters and associated sediment over the top of a barrier beach, usually when storms coincide with high tides. Leads to deposition of sediment in backshore areas and the gradual shifting of a barrier beach landward.
“Overwater structures” means human-made structures that extend over all or part of the surface of a body of water, such as a pier.
“Parking” means the temporary storage of automobiles or other motorized vehicles.
“Periodic” means occurring at regular intervals.
“Person(s)” includes organizations and corporations.
“Pier” means a platform structure or anchored device that is fixed above the water extending waterward from ordinary high water, and which is generally used as a landing or moorage place for industrial, commercial, and/or pleasure craft; including but not limited to wharves and quays.
“Plant community” means an association of plants in a given area or region in which various species are more or less dependent upon each other.
“Pocket beach” means an isolated beach, existing usually without benefit of littoral drift from sources elsewhere. Pocket beaches are produced by erosion of immediately adjacent bluffs or banks and are relatively scarce and therefore valuable shoreforms on the Island; they are most common between rock headlands and may or may not have a backshore.
“Pocket estuary” is a term used in the Puget Sound region to describe small estuaries and lagoons, partially isolated by their configuration from the main body of Puget Sound.
“Point” means a low profile shoreline promontory of more or less triangular shape, the top of which extends waterward.
“Primary structure” means a structure that includes the principal use of a property, or is intended to be occupied with the principal use of the property.
“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:
1. Comparatively high fish or wildlife density;
2. Comparatively high fish or wildlife species diversity;
3. Fish spawning habitat;
4. Important wildlife habitat;
5. Important fish or wildlife range;
6. Important fish or wildlife movement corridor;
7. Rearing and foraging habitat;
8. Important marine mammal haul-out;
9. Refugia habitat;
10. Limited availability;
11. High vulnerability to habitat alteration;
12. Unique or dependent species; or
13. Shellfish bed.
A priority habitat may be described by a unique vegetation type or by a dominant plant species that is of primary importance to fish and wildlife (such as oak woodlands or eelgrass meadows).
A priority habitat may also be described by a successional stage (such as old growth and mature forests). Alternatively, a priority habitat may consist of a specific habitat element (such as a consolidated marine/estuarine shoreline, talus slopes, caves, snags) of key value to fish and wildlife. A priority habitat may contain priority and/or nonpriority fish and wildlife.
“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 criteria listed below:
1. Criterion 1. State-listed or state proposed species. State-listed species are those native fish and wildlife species legally designated as endangered (WAC 232-12-014 or its successor), threatened (WAC 232-12-011 or its successor), or sensitive (WAC 232-12-011 or its successor). State proposed species are those fish and wildlife species that will be reviewed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife (POL-M-6001) for possible listing as endangered, threatened, or sensitive according to the process and criteria defined in WAC 232-12-297.
2. Criterion 2. Vulnerable aggregations. Vulnerable aggregations include those species or groups of animals susceptible to significant population declines, within a specific area or statewide, by virtue of their inclination to congregate. Examples include heron colonies, seabird concentrations, and marine mammal congregations.
3. Criterion 3. Species of recreational, commercial, and/or tribal importance. Native and nonnative fish, shellfish, and wildlife species of recreational or commercial importance and recognized species used for tribal ceremonial and subsistence purposes that are vulnerable to habitat loss or degradation.
4. Criterion 4. Species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act as either proposed, threatened, or endangered.
“Pruning” means the selective removal of plant parts to achieve defined objectives.
“Pruning amount” means the quantity of plant parts removed at one pruning, expressed in terms of a number of branches or other parts removed, and/or percentage of the crown or buds removed on an entire tree or specific branches.
“Public access” means the public’s right to get to and use the state’s public waters, both saltwater and freshwater, the water/land interface and associated shoreline area. It includes physical access that is either lateral (areas paralleling the shore) or perpendicular (an easement or public corridor to the shore), and/or visual access facilitated by means such as scenic roads and overlooks, viewing platforms, decks or towers and other public sites or facilities.
“Public interest” means the interest shared by the citizens of the state or community at large in the affairs of government, or some interest by which their rights or liabilities are affected including, but not limited to, an effect on public property or on health, safety, or general welfare resulting from adverse effects of a use or development.
“Puget Lowland, Central” means the low area between the Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges.
“Puget Sound” means all marine water contained south and east of Admiralty Inlet and Deception Pass.
“Qualified professional” means a person with experience and training with expertise appropriate for the relevant critical area subject in accordance with WAC 365-195-905(4). A qualified professional must possess the required education and experience stipulated for that profession pursuant to this program for the following:
1. Fisheries biologist;
2. Geotechnical engineer;
3. Hydrogeologist;
4. Wetland specialist;
5. Wildlife biologist;
6. Professional archaeologist;
7. Certified arborist;
8. Engineering geologist.
“Ravine” means a V-shaped landform generally having little to no floodplain and normally containing steep slopes, which is deeper than 10 vertical feet as measured from the centerline of the ravine to the top of the slope. Ravines are typically created by the wearing action of streams. The top of the slope is determined where there is a significant change in the slope to generally less that a 15 percent slope.
“RCW” means Revised Code of Washington.
“Recharge” means the process involved in the absorption and addition of water from the unsaturated zone to groundwater.
“Recreation” means an experience or activity in which an individual engages for personal enjoyment and satisfaction through forms of play, sports, relaxation, amusement or contemplation. Most shore-based recreation includes outdoor recreation such as: fishing, hunting, clamming, beach combing, and rock climbing; various forms of boating, swimming, hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, camping, picnicking, watching or recording activities such as photography, painting, bird watching or viewing of water or shorelines, nature study and related activities.
“Recreational development, active” means activities that generally require the use of constructed facilities such as playgrounds, athletic fields, boat ramps, and marinas, and/or the use of specialized equipment.
“Recreational development, passive” means activities that require a minimum of facilities such as swimming, picnicking, hiking, canoeing and fishing, and other low impact activities.
“Recreational fishing” means fishing for personal use as allowed by personal fishery in Chapter 220-56 WAC.
1. “Hand line” and “angling” shall be identical in meaning and, except as provided in WAC 220-56-115, shall be defined as the use of not more than one line with three hooks attached to a pole held in hand while landing fish, or the use of a hand operated line without rod or reel, to which may be attached not more than three hooks. When fishing for bottom fish, “angling” and “jigging” shall be identical in meaning (WAC 220-56-100(17), or its successor).
2. “Spear fishing” means an effort to take fish or shellfish by impaling the fish or shellfish on a shaft, arrow or other device (WAC 220-56-100(29), or its successor).
3. “Bow and arrow fishing” means any method of taking, or attempting to take, fish by the use of an arrow equipped with a barbed head and a line attached, and propelled by a bow, as in the sport of archery, while the fisher is above the surface of the water (WAC 220-56-100(6), or its successor).
“Redevelopment” means, on a site that is already substantially developed (i.e., has 35 percent or more of existing impervious surface coverage), the creation or addition of impervious surfaces; the expansion of a building footprint or addition or replacement of a structure; construction, installation or expansion of a building or other structure; replacement of impervious surface that is not part of a routine maintenance activity; and land disturbing activities.
“Removal, vegetation” means to eliminate the presence or hazard of unwanted vegetation.
Repair. See “normal repair.”
“Residential development” means construction or alteration, earth modification, subdivision and use of land primarily for human residence; including but not limited to single-family residences and multifamily dwellings, accessory uses, and structures normally associated with residential uses and structures. Residential development includes land divisions, including short plats, of residentially zoned land. It also includes all modifications to land and vegetation associated with construction, preparation, or maintenance of residential structures or accessory structures.
“Restoration” or “ecological restoration” means to revitalize, reestablish or upgrade ecological shoreline functions and/or natural processes of a degraded shoreline resource to a condition that sustains the ecological functions and processes at a state of equilibrium.
This may be accomplished through measures including, but not limited to, revegetation, removal of intrusive shoreline structures, and removal or treatment of toxic materials.
“Retaining wall” means a built structure designed to retain an earth bank from sliding or to resist the lateral pressure of soil when there is a desired change in ground elevation.
“Revetment” means a sloping structure built to protect a scarp, embankment, or shore against erosion by waves or currents. Usually built of riprap, with heavy armor layer, one or more filter layers of smaller rock or filter cloth, and “toe” protection. A revetment slopes shoreward and has a rough or jagged face. Its sloping face absorbs wave energy and differentiates it from a bulkhead, which is a vertical structure.
“Riparian” means of, pertaining to, or situated or living on the banks of a river or other body of water, including tidewater.
“Riparian management zone” means the area adjacent to a water body (stream, lake or marine water) that contains vegetation that influences the aquatic ecosystem, nearshore area and/or fish and wildlife habitat. The zone includes terrestrial habitat and riparian vegetation.
“Riparian vegetation” means vegetation that tolerates and/or requires moist conditions and periodic free flowing water thus creating a transitional zone between aquatic and terrestrial habitats which provides cover, shade and food sources for aquatic and terrestrial insects for fish species. Riparian vegetation and their root systems stabilize banks, attenuate high water flows, provide wildlife habitat and travel corridors, and provide a source of limbs and other woody debris to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
“Riprap” means a layer, facing, or protective mound of stones placed to prevent erosion, scouring, or sloughing of a structure or embankment.
Rock Weir. See “groins.”
“Runoff” means water that is not absorbed into the soil, but rather flows along the ground surface following the topography.
“Salish Sea” is broadly defined as the confined water body inland from Cape Flattery, including Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia.
“Salmon and steelhead habitats” means gravel bottom streams, creeks, and rivers used for spawning; streams, creeks, rivers, side channels, ponds, lakes, and wetlands used for rearing, feeding, cover and refuge from predators and high water; streams, creeks, rivers, estuaries, and shallow areas of saltwater bodies used as migration corridors; and salt water bodies used for rearing, feeding, and refuge from predators and currents.
“Salt tolerant vegetation” means vegetation which is tolerant of interstitial soil salinities greater than or equal to 0.5 parts per 1,000 (Chapter 173-22 WAC or its successor).
“Seawall” means a structure separating land and water areas primarily to prevent erosion and other damage by wave action. Generally more massive and capable of resisting greater wave forces than a bulkhead or revetment.
“Sediment” means the material, such as sand, silt, or clay, suspended in or settled on the bottom of a water body, generally deposited by erosion, water or wind.
“Sediment transport” means the movement of sediment along a current pathway.
“Seismic hazard areas” means areas that are subject to severe risk of damage as a result of earthquake-induced ground shaking or surface faulting. While ground shaking is the principal risk because the entire island will shake significantly, severe damage will occur where slope failure, liquefaction, and settlement are induced by the shaking and surface rupture created by fault movement. The following areas are considered seismic hazard areas:
1. Seismic Landslide Hazard Areas. Slopes which are stable in nonearthquake periods, but fail and slide during ground shaking;
2. Liquefaction Hazard Areas. Areas of noncohesive, loose or soft, saturated soils of low density in association with a shallow groundwater table that are subject to settlement and/or liquefaction from ground shaking; or
3. Fault Hazard Areas. Areas of known surface rupture or significant surface deformation as a result of an active fault movement, including 50 feet on either side.
Sensitive Areas. See “critical areas.”
Sensitive Land. See “critical areas.”
“Setback” means the required space that is left open and unoccupied between the nearest projection of a structure and the property line of the lot on which the structure is located, and that is required to remain unobstructed from the ground to the sky except for modification to setbacks and height specifically allowed by code.
“Shall” means a mandate; the action that must be done.
“Shared moorage” means moorage for pleasure craft and/or landing for water sports for use in common by shoreline residents of a certain subdivision or community within shoreline jurisdiction or for use by patrons of a public park or quasi-public recreation area, including rental of nonpowered craft. If a shared moorage provides commercial services of six or more slips, it shall be considered a marina.
“Shellfish” means invertebrates of the phyla Arthropoda (class Crustacea), Mollusca (class Pelecypoda) and Echinodermata.
Shellfish Habitat Conservation Area. All public and private tidelands suitable for shellfish, as identified by the Washington Department of Health classification of commercial growing areas, and those recreational harvest areas as identified by the Washington Department of Ecology, are designated as shellfish habitat conservation areas. Protection districts created under Chapter 90.72 RCW are also shellfish habitat conservation areas.
“Shoreland areas” means those lands extending landward for 200 feet in all directions as measured on a horizontal plane from the ordinary high water mark; floodways and contiguous floodplain areas landward 200 feet from such floodways; and all wetlands, including river deltas associated with streams, rivers and tidal waters which are subject to the provisions of this chapter; the same to be designated as to location by the Department of Ecology.
Shorelands. See “shoreland areas.”
“Shoreline armoring” means structural protection from erosion caused by tidal action, current or waves, including but not limited to revetments, bulkheads, sea walls and gabions.
“Shoreline designation” means the categories of shorelines established by the shoreline master program in order to provide a uniform basis for applying policies and use regulations within distinctively different shoreline areas (WAC 173-16-040(4) or its successor).
“Shoreline jurisdiction (associated wetlands (jurisdictional))” is the proper term describing all of the geographic areas covered by the Shoreline Management Act, related rules, and the applicable master program. Those lands extending landward for 200 feet in all directions, as measured on a horizontal plane from the ordinary high water mark; floodways and contiguous floodplain areas landward 200 feet from such floodways; and all marshes, bogs, swamps and deltas associated with the streams, lakes, and tidal waters subject to the Shoreline Management Act. See RCW 90.58.030(2)(f) or its successor; WAC 173-16-030(17) or its successor; and WAC 173-22-030(10) or its successor. Also, such areas within a specified local government’s authority. See definitions of “shorelines,” “shoreland areas,” “shorelines of the state,” and “shorelines of statewide significance.”
“Shoreline Management Act” means the Shoreline Management Act of 1971, Chapter 90.58 RCW, as amended.
“Shoreline master program” or “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 a shoreline master program 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 shoreline master program 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 permit” means a substantial development, conditional use, revision, variance, or any combination thereof (WAC 173-27-030(13) or its successor).
“Shoreline stabilization and flood protection” means structural or nonstructural modifications to the existing shoreline intended to reduce or prevent erosion impacts to property and dwellings, businesses, or structures of upland beaches or reduce adverse impacts caused by natural processes, such as current, flood, tides, wake, wind, or wave action. These are generally located parallel to the shoreline at or near the OHWM. Examples of specific structural and nonstructural shoreline modification activities include revetments, riprap, bulkheads, and bank stabilization.
“Shoreline stabilization, bioengineered” means biostructural and biotechnical alternatives to hardened structures (bulkheads, walls) for protecting slopes or other erosive features including soft-treatment techniques. Bioengineered stabilization uses vegetation reinforced soil slopes (VRSS), which uses vegetation arranged embedded in the ground to prevent shallow mass-movements and surficial erosion.
“Shoreline stabilization, hard structure” means shore erosion control practices using hardened structures that armor and stabilize the shoreline landward of the structure from further erosion.
“Shoreline stabilization, hybrid structure” means an approach to erosion control that combines soft-treatment shoreline treatment placed waterward of more conventional structural shoreline stabilization elements. The soft treatment preserves natural beach contours and mimics habitat structure in order to preserve ecological functions. The hard structure provides long-term stability to the upland site, but is located sufficiently landward of the OHWM as not to impair ecological processes.
Shoreline Stabilization, New. Placement of shoreline stabilization where no such structure previously existed, including additions to or increases in size of existing shoreline stabilization measures, are considered new structures.
“Shoreline stabilization, nonstructural” means a soft treatment which does not use driftwood, logs, geotextile fabric, or other organic or nonorganic structural materials. Examples include:
1. Addressing upland drainage issues;
2. Planting stabilization vegetation without fill, grading, or use of nonbiodegradable geotextile fabric, gabions or other stabilizing structures to provide temporary erosion control.
“Shoreline stabilization, replacement” means the construction of a new structure to perform a shoreline stabilization function of an existing legally established shoreline stabilization structure which can no longer adequately serve its purpose.
“Shoreline stabilization, soft-treatment” means shore erosion control and restoration practices using only plantings or organic materials to restore, protect or enhance the natural shoreline environment. This technique mimics natural conditions for ecological functions and ecosystem-wide processes. When used, organic/biodegradable structural components are to be placed to avoid significant disruption of sediment recruitment, transportation, and accretion. Examples include:
1. Bioengineered shoreline stabilization;
2. Beach nourishment/replenishment;
3. Vegetated soil stabilization retention methods;
4. Driftwood;
5. Coir fiber logs or other natural materials;
6. Nonstructural shoreline stabilization;
7. Beach berm.
“Shoreline stabilization, structural” means shoreline stabilization which includes a footing, foundation, or anchors. Materials are typically hardened structures which armor the shoreline. See also “shoreline stabilization, hard structure” and “shoreline stabilization, hybrid structure.”
“Shoreline substantial development permit” means a mechanism through which the city determines whether a proposed development or activity complies with the State of Washington Shoreline Management Act (Chapter 90.58 RCW or its successor) and the master program.
“Shorelines” means all of the water areas of the state, including reservoirs and their associated wetlands, together with the lands underlying them, except those areas excluded under RCW 90.58.030(2)(d) or its successor and shorelines of statewide significance.
“Shorelines hearings board (SHB)” means a quasi-judicial body which hears appeals by any aggrieved party on the issuance of a shoreline permit and appeals by local government on Washington State Department of Ecology approval of master programs, rules, regulations, guidelines, or designations under the Shoreline Management Act (RCW 90.58.170 or its successor; RCW 90.58.180 or its successor; and WAC 173-04-010 or its successor).
“Shorelines of statewide significance” means a select category of shorelines of the state, defined in RCW 90.58.030(2)(e) or its successor, where special preservation policies apply and where greater planning authority is granted by the Shoreline Management Act (RCW 90.58.020 or its successor). Within the city’s jurisdiction all those areas lying seaward from the line of extreme low tide are shorelines of statewide significance (RCW 90.58.030(1)(e)(iii) or its successor).
“Shorelines of the state” means shorelines and shorelines of statewide significance.
Shoreward. See “landward.”
“Should” means a particular action is required unless there is demonstrated, compelling reason, based on policy of the Shoreline Management Act and this program, against taking the action.
“Shrub” means a woody perennial plant, usually with several stems that may be erect or close to the ground, generally smaller than a tree.
“Sign” means any letter, figure, design, symbol, trademark or other device which is intended to attract attention to any activity, service, place, political office, subject, firm, corporation or merchandise, except traffic signs or signals, public or court notices, signs not visible from the public right-of-way or adjacent properties, signs on moving vehicles, newspapers, leaflets or other printed materials intended for individual use or individual distribution to members of the public, government flags, flags and buntings exhibited to commemorate national patriotic holidays and temporary banners announcing charitable or civic events.
“Significant removal of vegetation” 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 to functions provided by such vegetation. The removal of invasive or noxious weeds does not constitute significant vegetation removal. The approved removal of trees determined to be hazardous does not apply. Tree pruning, not including tree topping, that does not affect ecological functions, does not constitute significant vegetation removal in the Washington State shoreline master program guidelines, Chapter 173-26 WAC.
“Single-family residence (SFR)” means a detached dwelling designed for and occupied by one family, including those structures and developments within a contiguous ownership which are normal appurtenances (WAC 173-27-040(2)(g) or its successor).
“Site” means the entire lot, series of lots, or parcels on which a development is located or proposed to be located, including all contiguous undeveloped lots or parcels under common ownership.
“Soil bioengineering” means an applied science that combines structure, biological, and ecological concepts to construct living structures that stabilize the soil to control erosion, sedimentation, and flooding using live plant materials as a main structural component.
“Solid waste” means solid and semi-solid wastes, including garbage, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, wood wastes, and sortyard wastes associated with commercial logging activities, swill, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles and parts of vehicles, household appliances, and other discarded commodities. Solid waste does not include wastewater, dredge material, agricultural, or other commercial logging wastes not specifically listed above. See “landfill” and “dredging.”
“Solid waste disposal” means discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste, including hazardous waste, on land or in the water.
“Species of local importance” means those species that are of local concern due to their population status or their sensitivity to habitat alteration.
“Spit” means an accretion shoreform which extends seaward from and parallel to the shoreline. They are usually characterized by a wave-built berm on the windward side and more gently sloping, muddy, or marshy shore on the leeward side. A curved spit is normally called a hook.
“Spit/barrier/backshore” means an area with a wide beach face and slope of less than 15 percent, distinguishable backshore. This term is used to identify geomorphic classes for the 2004 Nearshore Assessment completed by Battelle for the city.
Spur Dock. See “groins.”
“SSDP” means shoreline substantial development permit.
Starvation. See “impoundment.”
“Statement of exemption” or “letter of exemption” means a written statement by the administrator that a particular development proposal is exempt from the substantial development permit requirement and is generally consistent with this program including the policy of the Act (RCW 90.58.020 or its successor).
“Steep slope” means a 40 percent or greater slope. See also “landslide hazard areas.”
“Storm surge” means a rise above normal water level on the open coast due to the action of wind forces on the water surface or to atmospheric pressure reduction.
“Stormwater management” means the control of stormwater drainage through a systematic design that performs a particular function, or multiple functions, and includes but is not limited to pipes, swales, ditches, culverts, street gutters, detention basins, retention basins, constructed wetlands, infiltration devices, catch basins, oil/water separators, sediment basins and modular pavement.
“Stream types” means a stream classification system based on fish usage and perennial or seasonal water regime as found in WAC 222-16-030 and meeting the standards listed below:
1. “Type F stream” means a stream that has fish habitat. Waters having the following characteristics are presumed to meet the physical criteria for fish use: stream segments having a defined channel of two feet or greater within the bankfull width and having a gradient of 16 percent or less. Also, stream segments having a defined channel of two feet or greater within the bankfull width and having a gradient greater than 16 percent and less than or equal to 20 percent, and having greater than 50 acres in contributing basin size based on hydrographic boundaries.
2. “Type Np” means all segments of natural waters within the bankfull width of defined channels that are perennial nonfish habitat streams. Perennial streams are waters that do not go dry any time of a year of normal rainfall. However, for the purpose of water typing, Type Np waters include the intermittent dry portions of the perennial channel below the uppermost point of perennial flow.
3. “Type Ns” means all segments of natural waters within the bankfull width of the defined channels that are not Type S, F, or Np waters. These are seasonal, nonfish habitat streams in which surface flow is not present for at least some portion of a year of normal rainfall and are not located downstream from any stream reach that is a Type Np water. Ns waters must be physically connected by an above-ground channel system to marine waters, Type F, or Np waters.
“Streams” means those areas in the city of Bainbridge Island where the surface water flows are sufficient to produce a defined channel or bed. A “defined channel or bed” is an area which demonstrates clear evidence of the passage of water and includes but is not limited to bedrock channels, gravel beds, sand and silt beds, and defined-channel swales. The channel or bed need not contain water year-round. This definition is not meant to include irrigation ditches, canals, storm or surface water runoff devices, or other artificial watercourses unless they are used by fish or used to convey streams naturally occurring prior to construction.
“Structure” means a permanent or temporary edifice or building, or any piece of work artificially built or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner, whether installed on, above, or below the surface of the ground or water, except for vessels (WAC 173-27-030(15) or its successor).
Sub-Estuary. See “pocket estuary.”
“Subdivision” means the division or redivision of land, including short subdivisions, for the purpose of sale, lease, or conveyance.
“Substantial development” means any development of which the total cost or fair market value exceeds the amount specified in WAC 173-26-040(2)(a); or any development which materially interferes with the normal public use of the water or shorelines of the state, except as specifically exempted pursuant to RCW 90.58.030(3)(e) or its successor and WAC 173-27-040 or its successor. See definitions for “development” and “exemption.”
Substantial Progress. Substantial progress toward completion of a permitted activity includes all of the following, where applicable: the making of contracts, signing of notice to proceed, completion of grading and excavation and the laying of major utilities; or, where no construction is involved, commencement of the activity (WAC 173-27-090 or its successor).
“Subtidal” means the area of the marine environment below extreme low tide.
“Surface water” means water that travels across the surface of the ground, rather than infiltrating.
“Sustainable development” means development which maintains a balance between the health of the natural environment and the needs of the human community which lives within it.
“Swell” means wind-generated waves that have traveled out of their generating area. Swell characteristically exhibits a more regular and longer period and has flatter crests than waves with their fetch.
“Terrestrial” means of or relating to land as distinct from air or water.
“Tidal flats” means marshy or muddy areas of the seabed which are covered and uncovered by the rise and fall of tidal water.
“Tidal inlet” means a shore feature subject to the daily influence of the tides, whose mouth is narrower than its length. The inlet is considered to be all lands and waters seaward of the ordinary high water mark, and extending to its mouth. Within tidal inlets, specific areas that constitute critical habitat are designated for special protection under the master program.
“Tidal lagoon” means a body of saline water (salinity greater than 0.5 parts per 1,000) with a constricted or subsurface outlet that is subject to the periodic, but not necessarily daily, exchange of water with Puget Sound or a tidal inlet. The exchange may occur seasonally, during storms, or during the highest spring tides. The connection between the sea and the lagoon does not necessarily have to be on the surface; the connection can be subsurface through permeable gravel and sand berms.
“Tidal range” means the difference in height between consecutive high and low water.
“Tidal water” includes marine and estuarine water bounded by the ordinary high water mark. Where a stream enters the tidal water, the tidal water is bounded by the extension of the elevation of the marine ordinary high water mark within the stream (WAC 173-22-030(9) or its successor).
“Tidelands” means land on the shore of marine water bodies between the line of ordinary high water and the line of extreme low tide.
“Toxic material” means any material damaging to marine life including, but not limited to, paints, varnishes, antifouling agents, bleaches, petroleum, and contaminated bilge wastewater.
“Transient moorage” means moorage for a stay of less than two weeks.
“Transportation facilities” means those structures and developments that aid in land and water surface movement of people, goods, and services. They include roads and highways, bridges and causeways, bikeways, trails, railroad facilities, ferry terminals, float plane terminals, heliports, and other related facilities.
“Tree” means a woody perennial plant with a single or multiple trunks, which typically develop a mature size of over several inches diameter, and 10 or more feet in height.
“Unavoidable” means adverse impacts that remain after all appropriate avoidance and minimization measures have been implemented.
“Updrift” means in the direction opposite of dominant alongshore sediment transport.
“Upland” is generally described as the area above and landward of the OHWM.
“Upland finfish rearing facilities” means those private facilities not located within waters of the state where finfish are hatched, fed, nurtured, held, maintained, or reared to reach the size for commercial market sale. This shall include fish hatcheries, rearing ponds, spawning channels, and other similarly constructed or fabricated facilities.
“Utilities, accessory” means small-scale distribution systems directly serving a permitted shoreline use. These include power, telephone, cable, water, sewer, septic, and stormwater lines.
“Utilities, primary” means facilities that produce, transmit, carry, store, distribute, or process electric power, gas, water, sewage, or information. Primary utilities include solid waste handling and disposal facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, utility lines, electrical power generating or transfer facilities, radio, wireless telephone and microwave tower, and gas distribution and storage facilities.
“Variance” is a means to grant relief from the specific bulk, dimensional, or performance standards specified in the applicable master program. Variance permits must be specifically approved, approved with conditions, or denied by the Washington State Department of Ecology. (See WAC 173-14-150 or its successor.)
“Vascular plant” means any plant that has a specialized conducting system consisting mostly of phloem (food-conducting tissue) and xylem (water-conducting tissue), collectively called vascular tissue. These plants have true stems, leaves, and roots, modifications of which enable species of vascular plants to survive in a variety of habitats under diverse, even extreme, environmental conditions.
“Vegetative stabilization” means planting of vegetation to retain soil and retard erosion, reduce wave action, and retain bottom material. It also means utilization of temporary structures or netting to enable plants to establish themselves in unstable areas.
“Vessel” means a floating structure that is designed primarily for transportation, is normally capable of self-propulsion and navigation, and meets all applicable laws and regulations pertaining to navigation and safety equipment on vessels, including, but not limited to, registration as a vessel by an appropriate government agency, and does not interfere with normal public use of the water (WAC 173-27-030(18) or its successor).
“View corridor” means an area free of buildings and other view-blocking structures which provides visual access to water and/or the shoreline.
“WAC” means Washington Administrative Code.
Washington State Department of Ecology. See “Ecology.”
“Water-dependent use” means a use or a portion of a use which cannot exist in a location that is not adjacent to the water, which is dependent on the water by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operation. Examples of water-dependent uses may include ship cargo terminal loading areas, ferry and passenger terminals, barge loading facilities, ship building and dry docking, marinas, aquaculture, float plane facilities, and sewer outfalls.
“Water-enjoyment use” means a recreational use, or other use facilitating 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 general characteristic of the use and which through the location, design, and operation ensure 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 foster shoreline enjoyment. Primary water-enjoyment uses may include, but are not limited to, parks, piers, and other improvements facilitating public access to shorelines of the state. General water-enjoyment uses may include, but are not limited to, restaurants, museums, aquariums, educational/scientific reserves, resorts, and mixed-use commercial; provided, that such uses conform to the above water-enjoyment specifications and the provisions of the master program.
“Water-oriented use” refers to any combination of water-dependent, water-related and/or water-enjoyment uses and serves as an all-encompassing definition for priority uses under the Shoreline Management Act.
“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 chapter, the term “water quality” refers only to development and uses regulated under this chapter and affecting water quality, such as impermeable surfaces and stormwater handling practices. Water quality, 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” 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:
1. Of a functional requirement for a waterfront location such as the arrival or shipment of materials by water or the need for large quantities of water; or
2. The use provides a necessary service supportive of the water-dependent commercial activities and the proximity of the use to its customers makes its services less expensive and/or more convenient.
Examples include: (1) manufacturers of ship parts large enough that transportation becomes a significant factor in the product(s) cost, (2) professional services serving primarily water-dependent activities, and (3) storage of water-transported foods. Examples of water-related uses may include warehousing of goods transported by water, seafood processing plants, hydroelectric generating plants, gravel storage when transported by barge, oil refineries where transport is by tanker, and log storage.
“Waterward” means to, toward, or continuing into the water body.
“Wave direction” means the direction from which waves approach an observer.
“WDFW” means Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“Weir” means a structure in a stream or river for measuring or regulating stream flow.
“Wetland boundary” means the boundary or outer edge of a wetland as delineated in accordance with the federal wetland delineation manual and applicable regional supplements (as updated), as required by WAC 173-22-035, or its successor.
“Wetland category” means category as defined in Washington State Wetland Rating System for Western Washington – 2014 Update (Ecology Publication No. 14-06-029, October 2014), or as revised and adopted by the department.
“Wetlands” means areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include, but are not limited to, swamps, estuaries, marshes, bogs, ponds less than 20 acres, including their submerged aquatic beds 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 include those legally established artificial wetlands intentionally created from non-wetland areas to mitigate the conversion of wetlands. (WAC 173-22-030(10) and (11), or their successors).
“Wetlands specialist” means a person with experience and training in wetland issues who is able to submit substantially correct reports on wetland delineations, classifications, functional assessments and mitigation plans. “Substantially correct” means that errors, if any, are minor and do not delay or affect the site plan review process. Qualifications of a wetlands specialist include either subsection 1 or 2 of this definition, and the prior successful completion of at least three wetland reports.
1. Certification as a professional wetland scientist (PWS) or wetland professional in training (WPIT) through the Society of Wetland Scientists.
2. Bachelor of science degree in the biological sciences from an accredited institution and five years of professional field experience.
“Wildlife biologist” means a person with experience and training in the principles of wildlife management and with practical knowledge in the habits, distribution and environmental management of wildlife. Qualifications include either subsection 1 or 2 of this definition, and the prior successful completion of at least three habitat managements plans.
1. Certification as a professional wildlife biologist through the Wildlife Society.
2. Bachelor of science or bachelor of arts degree in wildlife management, wildlife biology, ecology, zoology, or a related field, from an accredited institution and five years of professional field experience.
“Wildlife habitat” means a seasonal range or habitat element with which a given species has a primary association, and which, if altered, may reduce the likelihood that the species will maintain and reproduce over the long term. These include areas of relative density or species richness, breeding habitat, winter range, and movement corridors. These also include habitats of limited availability or high vulnerability to alteration, such as cliffs, streams and wetlands.
“Zone of impact” means the area of the subject property where the incident wave energy is distributed, in relation to the primary structure and primary appurtenances and the angle of the incident wave.
“Zone of influence” means an area usually upslope from a geologically hazardous area, where changes in land use and hydrology can affect the stability of the geologically hazardous area. The zone of influence is defined as 300 feet upslope from slopes greater than 40 percent, and 200 feet upslope from slopes greater than 15 percent but less than 40 percent that are determined to be geologically hazardous areas.
“Zoning” means to designate by ordinance, including maps, areas of land reserved and regulated for specific land uses. (Ord. 2020-17 § 3 (Exh. A), 2020; Ord. 2014-04 § 3 (Exh. 1 § 8), 2014)
Scientific and technical information supporting the shoreline buffer standards is provided in the following documents available at the city of Bainbridge Island’s department of planning and community development: Documentation of Marine Shoreline Buffer Recommendation Discussions, Memorandum, 2011, Herrera Environmental; Addendum to Summary of Science, 2011, Herrera Environmental; Bainbridge Island Current and Historic Coastal Geomorphic/Feeder Bluff Mapping, 2010, Coastal Geologic Services, Inc.; Best Available Science, 2003, Battelle; Bainbridge Island Nearshore Habitat Characterization and Assessment, 2004, Battelle.