Tougher Shoreline Rules Set Buffers Between Development, Waterways Now To Be Bigger

After five years of complaints and threats, the Department of Ecology on Wednesday adopted stiffer regulations to protect the state’s 20,000 miles of shorelines.

The changes to the Shoreline Management Act will mean bigger buffers between new development and rivers, lakes and the coast in many communities. There are more regulatory roadblocks for those wanting to build docks and bulkheads, although structures that already exist can be repaired or replaced.

Farmers won’t face new restrictions on the land they already use, said Tom Fitzsimmons, director of the state Department of Ecology. But land that’s converted into farming from other uses would face greater restrictions.

Exactly how the changes will affect regulations in each county depends on a number of factors.

Some existing regulations, like Spokane County’s required 250-foot buffer between most streams and new development, may already meet the requirements. But counties with lax regulations will have to change.

State voters passed the Shoreline Management Act in 1972. In 1995, the Legislature mandated that Ecology review the act and make changes if necessary so it would mesh with the 1990 Growth Management Act.

In the five years since, several runs of salmon have been added to the federal list of endangered species, adding urgency to the changes. Regulators say if the state doesn’t write tougher laws to protect salmon, federal agencies will impose them.

Rural legislators from both parties criticized drafts of the new regulations when the Ecology Department released them in 1998. Farmers complained they’d have to stop plowing within 200 feet of streams, and waterfront landowners worried they’d have to rip out bulkheads and docks. In all, the state received more than 2,500 written comments, mostly negative.

The Ecology Department said the complaints were either exaggerations or misunderstandings. But the agency withdrew the draft anyway.

A later version stressed that existing uses are protected. Still, Ecology officials who attended rural hearings faced angry crowds and occasional threats.

The shorelines regulations became an issue in the governor’s race and other state campaigns.

During his bid to become the Republican nominee for governor, state Sen. Howard Hochstatter warned that residents might eventually arm themselves against regulators. Some who heard the remark said Hochstatter actually encouraged armed rebellion. Hochstatter since has filed suit against the state, trying to block the regulatory changes.

Fitzsimmons said the regulations’ wording was changed based on more than 2,000 comments sent to the Ecology Department since the last draft was released to the public. Among other things, the definition of farming was broadened to include “everything from bee-keeping to dairies,” he said.

Under state law, local governments have just two years to comply with the state regulations. Fitzsimmons said Gov. Gary Locke will ask the Legislature to extend the deadline to five years and provide more state money for the task.

A similar request died last year, partly because rural legislators didn’t want to give the impression that they support the tougher regulations.

Ecology officials predicted during a June hearing in Spokane that Wednesday’s action would be completed before the end of summer. Fitzsimmons said the delay was caused by the need to reply to the many comments received about the regulations.