Designation and Mapping

14.04.900 Designation of fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas.

A. Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas include:

a. Federally designated endangered and threatened species are those fish and wildlife species identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service that are in danger of extinction or threatened to become endangered. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service should be consulted for current listing status.

b. State designated endangered, threatened, and sensitive species are those fish and wildlife species native to the state of Washington identified by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife that are in danger of extinction, threatened to become endangered, vulnerable, or declining and are likely to become endangered or threatened in a significant portion of their range within the state without cooperative management or removal of threats. State designated endangered, threatened, and sensitive species are periodically recorded in WAC 232-12-014 (state endangered species) and WAC 232-12-011 (state threatened and sensitive species). The State Department of Fish and Wildlife maintains the most current listing and should be consulted for current listing status.

2. State Priority Habitats and Areas Associated with State Priority Species. Priority habitats and species are considered to be priorities for conservation and management. Priority species require protective measures for their perpetuation due to their population status, sensitivity to habitat alteration, and/or recreational, commercial, or tribal importance. Priority habitats are those habitat types or elements with unique or significant value to a diverse assemblage of species. A priority habitat may consist of a unique vegetation type or dominant plant species, a described successional stage, or a specific structural element. Priority habitats and species are identified by the State Department of Fish and Wildlife and included on its Priority Habitats and Species List.

3. Habitats and Species of Local Importance. Habitats and species of local importance are those identified by the city, including but not limited to those habitats and species that, due to their population status or sensitivity to habitat manipulation, warrant protection. Habitats may include a seasonal range or habitat element with which a species has a primary association, and which, if altered, may reduce the likelihood that the species will maintain and reproduce over the long term.

a. Designation Process. The city shall accept and consider nominations for habitat areas and species to be designated as locally important on an annual basis. Nominations shall be processed by the city as a Type IVA permit, in accordance with Chapter 11.04 BMC.

(i) Habitats and species to be designated shall exhibit the following characteristics:

(A) Local populations of native species are in danger of extirpation based on existing trends:

(1) Local populations of native species that are likely to become endangered; or

(2) Local populations of native species that are vulnerable or declining;

(B) The species or habitat has recreation, commercial, game, tribal, or other special value;

(C) Long-term persistence of a species is dependent on the protection, maintenance, and/or restoration of the nominated habitat;

(D) Protection by other county, state, or federal policies, laws, regulations, or non-regulatory tools is not adequate to prevent degradation of the species or habitat in the city; and

(E) Without protection, there is a likelihood that the species or habitat will be diminished over the long term.

(ii) Areas nominated to protect a particular habitat or species must represent either high-quality native habitat or habitat that has a high potential to recover to a suitable condition and which is of limited availability, highly vulnerable to alteration, or provides landscape connectivity which contributes to the integrity of the surrounding landscape.

(iii) Habitats and species may be nominated for designation by any person.

(iv) The nomination should indicate whether specific habitat features are to be protected (for example, nest sites, breeding areas, and nurseries), or whether the habitat or ecosystem is being nominated in its entirety.

(v) The nomination may include management strategies for the species or habitats. Management strategies must be supported by the best available science, and where restoration of habitat is proposed, a specific plan for restoration must be provided prior to nomination.

(vi) The director shall determine whether the nomination proposal is complete, and if complete, shall evaluate it according to the characteristics enumerated in subsection (A)(3)(a)(i) of this section and make a recommendation to the planning commission, or shorelines board if the habitat in question is located within a designated shorelines area, based on those findings.

(vii) The planning commission/shorelines board shall hold a public hearing for proposals found to be complete in accordance with BMC Titles 11 and 12 and make a recommendation to the city council based on the characteristics enumerated in subsection (A)(3)(a)(i) of this section.

(viii) Following the recommendation of the planning commission/shorelines board, the city council shall designate a habitat or species of local importance.

(ix) Approved nominations will be subject to the provisions of this chapter.

4. Naturally Occurring Ponds Under 20 Acres. Naturally occurring ponds are those ponds under 20 acres and their submerged aquatic beds that provide fish or wildlife habitat, including those artificial ponds intentionally created from dry areas in order to mitigate impacts to ponds. Naturally occurring ponds do not include ponds deliberately designed and created from dry sites, such as canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, temporary construction ponds, and landscape amenities, unless such artificial ponds were intentionally created for mitigation.

5. Waters of the State. Waters of the state include lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, inland waters, underground waters, and all other surface waters and watercourses within the jurisdiction of the state of Washington, as classified in WAC 222-16-030.

6. Lakes, Ponds, Streams, and Rivers Planted with Game Fish by a Governmental or Tribal Entity.

7. State Natural Area Preserves and Natural Resource Conservation Areas. Natural area preserves and natural resource conservation areas are defined, established, and managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

B. All areas within the city meeting one or more of these criteria, regardless of any formal identification, are hereby designated critical areas and are subject to the provisions of this chapter except as otherwise provided herein.

1. Special Regulations Applicable to Horse Creek Daylighting North of SR 522 Within the Downtown Subarea. Any proposed conversion of currently piped portions of Horse Creek north of SR 522 within the Downtown Subarea to an open channel – a process known as “daylighting” – and any proposed development adjacent to such an open channel or to the existing open channel of Horse Creek north of NE 188th Street, shall be subject to BMC 12.64.302(C) in lieu of any conflicting citywide fish and wildlife habitat regulations in this title.

C. Mapping. The approximate location and extent of habitat conservation areas are shown on the critical areas maps adopted by the city, as most recently updated. The following critical areas maps are hereby adopted:

1. Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Priority Habitat and Species maps;

2. Washington State Department of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Program mapping data;

3. Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife SalmonScape mapping of anadromous and resident salmonid distribution;

4. Washington State Department of Natural Resources State Natural Area Preserves and Natural Resource Conservation Area maps; and

5. City official habitat maps.

These maps are to be used as a guide for the city, project applicants, and/or property owners and should be continuously updated as new critical areas are identified. They are a reference and do not provide a final critical areas designation. (Ord. 2349 §§ 1, 2, 2021; Ord. 2102 § 2 (Exh. B), 2012; Ord. 1946 § 3, 2005).