14.154.030 Habitat protection standards.
A. Education and Information. A voluntary education program to explain the need for and methods of habitat management will help provide for long-term protection and enhancement of critical fish and wildlife habitat areas. By informing citizens of the declining populations of several fish and wildlife species in Pierce County, the diminishing animal habitat available, and the management techniques that individuals can use to preserve and restore fish and wildlife habitat areas, the City can foster good stewardship of the land by property owners.
1. The Department will provide educational materials and lists of additional sources of information to applicants proposing regulated activities in the vicinity of critical fish and wildlife habitat areas. Materials will be selected from a variety of state and local resources.
2. The Department will accumulate information on the number of proposed activities associated with fish and wildlife habitat areas as identified by this chapter and indicated by county maps to be in the vicinity of identified critical fish and wildlife habitats pursuant to LMC 14.154.020. Information shall include the number of single-family residences and other development occurring in the vicinity of critical fish and wildlife areas. Based on this information, additional regulations may be developed.
B. Use of Existing Procedures and Laws, Biological Assessments. The primary procedures used to implement this chapter shall include this chapter itself, the City’s Land Use and Development Code, the State Environmental Policy Act (Chapter 43.21C RCW), the City’s environmental regulations, the State Shoreline Management Act (Chapter 90.58 RCW), and the City’s shoreline management regulations.
Regulated activities subject to environmental review shall be reviewed with consideration for impacts on critical fish and wildlife habitat as identified in this title. The Community Development Director may require a biological assessment prepared by a qualified wildlife biologist whenever the Director finds that a project site may contain, affect, or be affected by, species or habitats designated in this chapter. Biological assessments shall be prepared in accordance with LMC 14.154.050(B), and are subject to the review and approval of the Director.
Projects undergoing review for fish and wildlife considerations shall be routed to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Department of Ecology, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and any other appropriate state and federal agencies. These agencies will have an opportunity to provide specific habitat information on proposed development sites, advise the City of their jurisdiction and applicable permit requirements, and suggest appropriate project modifications and/or other mitigation.
The City shall give substantial weight to the management recommendations contained in the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Priority Habitats and Species Program. [Ord. 775 § 1 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 630 § 2, 2015; Ord. 362 § 3, 2004.]