WRIA 62 WMP 032305 - Washington State Department of Ecology

March, 2005 -89- 023-1289-003.3040
5.3 Growth and Land Use Planning
This section provides information on processes that are relevant to growth and land use planning.
5.3.1 Growth Management
In 1990, Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA) (Chapter 36.70A RCW) provided for
comprehensive planning with local control, with the intent of encouraging conservation, responsible
use of lands and resources, and sustainable economic development. The GMA required the adoption
of comprehensive land use plans to designate urban growth areas for concentrated development and
growth, designate resource lands to preserve and plan for long term resource use (mining, forestry,
and agriculture), and retain the integrity, character, and sustainability of these lands. This
concentrated growth also provides a structure such that increasing populations in urban areas are
served by a regulated water source rather than an exempt (from water right requirements) Group B
system or individual well.
5.3.2 Pend Oreille County Comprehensive Planning
The Growth Management Act was amended in 1995 to require counties and cities to include the best
available science in developing policies and development regulations to protect the functions of
critical areas. The schedule for this review, evaluation, and update was established by RCW
36.70A.130 in 2002. This schedule requires Pend Oreille County and all cities within the County to
complete this update by December 1, 2007. Pend Oreille County is tentatively scheduled to have its
first Comprehensive Plan finalized in June 2005.
5.3.3 Shorelines Management
Washington’s Shoreline Management Act (SMA), Chapter 90.58 RCW, was adopted by the public in
a 1972 referendum “to prevent the inherent harm in an uncoordinated and piecemeal development of
the state’s shorelines.” The SMA has three broad policies:
• Encourage water-dependent uses: "uses shall be preferred which are consistent with
control of pollution and prevention of damage to the natural environment, or are unique
to or dependent upon use of the states' shorelines...”
• Protect shoreline natural resources, including "...the land and its vegetation and
wildlife, and the water of the state and their aquatic life..."
• Promote public access: “the public’s opportunity to enjoy the physic al and aesthetic
qualities of natural shorelines of the state shall be preserved to the greatest extent feasible
consistent with the overall best interest of the state and the people generally."
The next Pend Oreille County Shoreline Master Plan update is scheduled for 2012. The process for
this update is as follows:
1. Conduct Shoreline Inventory and Analysis. This process includes the gathering of
relevant reports and information, as well as synthesis of information from existing
reports.
2. Determine Environmental Designations for shorelines. The designations used by
Shoreline Management Plans will change with the next update. These designations
WRIA 62 WMP 032305