County hosting Birch Bay open house on shoreline

Whatcom County officials will be hosting an open house in Birch Bay to discuss ways to better protect county shoreline in the future.

The open house is part of a county-wide initiative, and will be one of several opportunities for county officials to gather input from the public on regulating activities and development along county shoreline, which encompasses the coast as well as larger lakes, rivers and streams.

The open house is scheduled to take place on Monday, June 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Birch Bay Bible Church, 4460 Bay Road.

The event will be attended by Cliff Strong, a project manager with the county’s planning and development services department, as well as Ryan Ericson, the county’s natural resources supervisor. It will also be attended by Dan Nickel of The Watershed Company, the county’s primary consultant, and David Roberts, a public outreach specialist with Kulshan Services.

The June 10 open house is one of three open houses that will take place in June. A second open house is scheduled for Wednesday,  June 19 in Deming, while a third is scheduled for Tuesday, June 25 in Bellingham.

Whatcom County is beginning the process of updating its Shoreline Management Program (SMP). Washington state requires counties to periodically update their SMPs, and the upcoming review will ensure that the county’s SMP stays current with changes in laws and rules, remains consistent with other county plans and regulations and is responsive to changed circumstances, new information and improved data.

“The SMP acts like another layer on top of zoning,” explained Strong. “It has more specific rules about how one can develop along shorelines.”

According to Strong, the SMP regulates different uses of the shoreline, ranging from industrial and commercial uses like marinas to residential uses like multifamily and single-family homes. It also governs access for recreation and public enjoyment, as well as environmental protection.

“Most of the county’s shorelines are designated for single family residential, conservancy or protection,” he said. “There are some recreational sites, and in population nodes like Birch Bay there are commercial and industrial uses.”

The SMP update process involves three phases, anticipated to take 12 to 16 months. The first phase involves determining the scope of the SMP update. The scope will be based on public comments, staff-identified issues and input from the planning commission and county council.

“The first set of open houses is designed to elicit comments about what the scope of this should be,” said Strong. “What should we be looking at? Are there particular rules that are troublesome for people, that might need to be clarified?”

For example, Strong said some of the rules about docks and wetlands may need to be clarified, since the language in the current SMP could be interpreted in different ways. “I think another one of the big issues is whether we could address climate change through this process or not,” he said. “It’s not required by the state, but it’s a big issue for a lot of people.”

Climate change could be addressed by the SMP in a number of ways, said Karlee Deatherage, policy analyst with RE Sources for Sustainable Communities, the Bellingham-based non-profit environmental education organization. Deatherage said that if enough members of the public request it, the SMP’s inventory of shorelines could be updated. This would include setting a new “ordinary high water mark” for the county’s shorelines, to reflect rising sea levels due to climate change.

“The sea level mark could have changed from 2008 which was when the last major shoreline assessment was done,” said Deatherage. “This is Whatcom County’s only opportunity this decade to use the most up-to-date science to adequately plan for the impacts of climate change – impacts we’re already witnessing. County officials will only do that if they hear from their community.”

She also said the public can also demand that the SMP include new rules to address storm surges, such as the December 20 storm that left Birch Bay Drive in shambles. This could include making sure there’s enough of a setback from the shoreline, as well as using natural vegetation as a buffer instead of bulkheads or seawalls. “There are vegetative strategies that other communities use, which Whatcom County could incorporate into its SMP,” said Deatherage.

Once comments have been received from the public, county staff will take those comments to county council and the planning commission and develop the scope of the SMP update.

During the second phase of the process, county staff will work with consultants to draft updated language and modify maps based on this issues the county council identified during scoping. This technical work is expected to take approximately six months.

In the final phase, the draft revised SMP will be presented to the public through additional open houses, anticipated for January of next year. Both the planning commission and the county council will also hold public hearings. Final approval of the updated SMP will be by the county council, anticipated in mid-2020. June 2020 is a state-imposed deadline.

In the meantime, Deatherage said that it’s important for members of the public to attend the June 10 open house. “We’re planning to be at the open houses and we’re encouraging the community to attend and show up to learn more about the SMP,” she said. “Shorelines sustain salmon and orcas, filter toxic substances from rain runoff, reduce erosion and soften the impacts of storms and flooding. If our shorelines are impacted by rising seas or poorly planned development, we could lose those valuable services.”