Shoreline Planning Commission Regular Meeting – July 3, 2025
Shoreline Planning Commission Regular Meeting – July 3, 2025
The Shoreline Planning Commission held a regular meeting on July 3, 2025, from 7:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. in the Council Chamber at Shoreline City Hall. The meeting focused on a study item regarding the Environmentally Critical Areas Code Update, specifically on riparian ecosystem width recommendations from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). No public comments were received. The Commission discussed whether to follow WDFW’s recommendation of a 202-foot site-potential tree height (SPTH) riparian ecosystem width or to explore departing from that recommendation. No votes were taken; staff was directed to return with additional information.
Consent Calendar
- The agenda was approved as presented.
- The regular meeting minutes of June 5, 2025, were approved as presented.
Public Comments & Testimony
- None.
Discussion Items
- Environmentally Critical Areas Code Update – Discussion: Planning Manager Elise Keim presented an overview of WDFW’s Science Synthesis and Management Recommendations for riparian ecosystems, explaining the five key ecosystem functions (bank stability, stream shading, wood recruitment, litter fall, and pollutant removal) and the concept of site-potential tree height (SPTH). She noted that WDFW estimated Shoreline’s SPTH at 202 feet (based on Douglas fir) due to incomplete soil data, and that adopting the 202-foot width would increase the number of impacted properties from approximately 1,400 to 1,978. Staff asked the Commission for direction on whether to proceed with the WDFW recommendation or to explore departing from it (e.g., using a reduced width like 150 feet) to balance Growth Management Act goals.
- Commissioners expressed a range of views: Vice Chair Mosier initially leaned toward 202 feet, noting that many affected west-side neighborhoods are covenant-controlled and already have limited development. Commissioner Lin asked about overlaying high-growth zones and the fairness of regulating open streams while piped streams are unregulated. Chair Brinson requested more details on the restrictions in the Critical Areas Code and how the update interacts with housing density goals. Commissioner Cabe supported hiring a consultant to obtain better local data, given the lack of soil data for Shoreline. Commissioner Povick agreed that a consultant would provide defensible data if deviating from regional norms. Commissioner Hadley concurred that more information was needed before providing feedback. The discussion also touched on fish passage, potential daylighting of piped streams, and the possibility of identifying properties for open space acquisition.
Key Outcomes
- No formal decisions or votes were taken.
- Staff was directed to return with additional information, including: policy guidance from the Comprehensive Plan, allowed uses under the Critical Areas Code, impacts from overlapping critical areas (e.g., wetlands, steep slopes), and a zoning overlay map showing affected properties. Staff will also explore hiring a consultant to refine site-potential tree height data for Shoreline. The next meeting on July 17, 2025, will include a public hearing on parking minimums and bike parking, and further discussion of the critical areas update.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. It's been a minute. I would like to call to order the Planning Commission regular meeting of Thursday, July 3rd, 2025. Carla, will you call roll, please? Chair Brinson. Here. Commissioner Cabe. Here. Commissioner Hadley. Present. Commissioner Lynn. Here. Vice Chair Mosier. Commissioner Poveck? Here. Thank you. Commissioner Fry is absent with notice. Thank you. Excellent. Approval of the agenda. All right, we're good to go. Approval of the last meetings minutes. Any comments? Nope. We're good there too. Carla, do we have anybody signed up for public comments? We have no one signed up tonight. Thank you. All right. Turning it over to you for our environmentally critical areas code update discussion. Good evening, Commissioners. Thank you for being here on the eve of a holiday. Really appreciate it. Here to discuss our critical areas code updates. Shoreline is in the process of updating its critical areas code by the end of 2025 to be consistent with the Growth Management Act. When we did an evaluation of the existing code, we found that the area that was in need of revisions was related to streams, and so that's what we are focusing the majority of the update effort on. So to that end, this evening we'll be spending time learning about the Department of Fish and Wildlife's science synthesis and management recommendations for riparian ecosystems. And I'll get into what all of that means. And then going to tee up a discussion because there are some items that staff would really appreciate some direction from Planning Commission on, so we know where to put our efforts, and then a brief preview of next steps. So first, let's talk about streams and how they are currently regulated. Streams are regulated based on the type of stream that we're talking about. Typically, that's whether or not it involves fish, or if it is a stream year-round, or maybe it dries up during the dry season. These streams themselves are considered critical areas, and the lands around them are buffers, and those buffers vary in width, largely based on the presence or absence of fish. So that's currently what's happening in shoreline. What that looks like is this map here. So what we have is it's a little hard to see when we're zoomed out to see the whole city, but these are buffers of various widths based on the different types of streams that occur in the city. And uh what we are now uh looking at are the publications from the Department of Fish and Wildlife related to riparian ecosystems. These are the lands around the streams. WDFW has two volumes that they have published. One, the science synthesis, and the second is the management recommendations.
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