Sumner updated on changes

to shoreline management act

A meeting about Washington’s Shoreline Management Act took place April 22 in Sumner City Hall regarding updates to the act.

The state Legislature passed the act in 1971 to protect shorelines from being damaged by development. The shorelines protected under the act include streams, wetlands, coastal property, lakeshores and more.

The Puyallup River Watershed Council hosted the meeting attended by representatives from local communities including Sumner, which was represented by Eric Mendenhall, planner for the city.

The Puyallup River Watershed Council is a forum that promotes and implements programs to restore, maintain, and enhance the watershed in order to protect its environmental, economic and cultural health.

Local jurisdictions create Shoreline Master Programs to implement the Washington Shoreline Management Act. These master programs include shoreline environment designations and maps depicting their locations, policies and regulations, and shoreline restoration planning and enforcement provisions.

Shoreline Master Programs apply policies and regulations to new uses and development of shorelines along rivers, larger creeks, lakes and the Puget Sound. These may include shoreline stabilization practices, recreational development, boating facilities, and residential development.

Pierce County’s Shoreline Master Program was updated following new Department of Ecology Shoreline guidelines placed in 2003. A Shoreline Master Program defines goals for the use of shorelines and development according to a comprehensive plan. Regulations governing the shoreline use and development are included as well as a framework for protecting and restoring the county’s shorelines.

Pierce County contains 181 miles of marine shoreline, 368 miles of river shoreline and 148 miles of lake shoreline.

For more information on the master programs, visit www.piercecountywa.org/smp.

Reach Chaz Holmes at 360-802-8208 or e-mail cholmes@courierherald.com.