LAKE STEVENS — For the second time in less than a year, Lake Stevens has put new restrictions on construction near streams and wetlands.
Whether the sometimes contentious issue is resolved once and for all, however, remains to be seen.
The City Council voted 6-0 Monday to approve the new rules, which increase the distances from streams and wetlands in which construction can take place. The rules also allow flexibility in those no-build zones if builders engage in wetlands restoration or employ environmentally friendly options such as using porous concrete.
“I think we’ve made a huge step forward,” City Councilman John Spencer said.
Still, not everyone is happy. The city’s Planning Commission recommended the rules be left as they were. Environmental groups and the state Department of Ecology said that while the new rules are an improvement, they don’t go far enough.
The Pilchuck Audobon Society and Futurewise, a Seattle-based environmental group, appealed last year’s rules to the state, asking that they be nullified. The group put that effort on hold until they the could see what the city’s new plan was.
Kristin Kelly, program director of the Snohomish County chapter of Futurewise, said she isn’t sure whether the group will file a new appeal.
Kelly and the city disagree over whether the new rules should apply to Lake Stevens itself. Kelly said they should apply, while city officials have said the lake is governed by a separate set of state rules. Under those rules, the current required setback from the lake is only 50 feet. Those rules are scheduled to be updated beginning next year, city planner Becky Ableman said.
Spencer works as an environmental engineer for CH2M Hill of Bellevue, a firm that designs many government projects. He campaigned for the very type of wetland-and-stream rules that were ultimately approved — taking environmental science into account but allowing for adjustment based on the situation, he said.
“We’re within the range of where the science says we should be, and within range of what other cities like us are doing,” Spencer said. The rules, he said, create “an opportunity for innovative design.”
The new rules widen no-build buffers by 50 feet, from 100 to 150 feet, for the highest-quality streams from an environmental and habitat standpoint.
The new plan increases the distances for the next category of stream from 75 feet to 100 feet. The streams in downtown Lake Stevens fit into one of these two categories.
For wetlands, the distances are increased from a high of 150 feet to a high of 190, depending on land use and wetlands quality.
Last April, the City Council approved more modest increases in the no-build buffer zones, but immediately questioned if the rules provided enough protection and asked the staff to bring back a new plan.
Some said the smaller increases were adequate and more business friendly — an important consideration in a city hoping to eventually remake its lakeside downtown.
City officials in that camp, including Mayor Vern Little, have praised this year’s rules as a good compromise.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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