14.154.050 Habitat protection for rivers and streams

14.154.050 Habitat protection for rivers and streams.

Regulated activities proposed along rivers and streams shall provide for habitat protection.

1. The buffer, consisting of undisturbed natural vegetation, shall be required along all streams, as classified by the DNR water typing classification system (WAC 222-16-030). The buffer shall extend landward from the ordinary high water mark of the water body.

a. Outside of the buffer removal of native vegetation shall not exceed 35 percent of the surface area of the portion of the site in the regulatory floodplain. Native vegetation within the buffer portion of the property can be counted toward this requirement.

2. The buffer of a river or stream shall not extend landward beyond an existing substantial improvement such as an improved road, dike, levee, or a permanent structure which reduces the impact proposed activities would have on the river or stream.

3. Buffer widths shall be as established by the City of Lakewood Shoreline Master Program (SMP) as contained in Chapter 4, Section C of the SMP.

4. If a proposed project does not meet the criteria established in Chapter 18A.50LMC, Article I, a habitat impact assessment shall be conducted in accordance with subsection (B) of this section, and if necessary, a habitat mitigation plan shall be prepared and implemented in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

B. Habitat Impact Assessment. Unless allowed under Chapter 18A.50LMC, Article I, a permit application to develop in the special flood hazard area (SFHA), for that portion of any parcel located within the area between the boundary of a buffer as established in the SMP, Chapter 4, Table 2, and the boundary of any buffer as required by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Puget Sound Biological Opinion of September 22, 2008, shall include an assessment of the impact of the project on water quality and aquatic and riparian habitat. The assessment shall be:

1. A biological evaluation or biological assessment that has received concurrence from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service, pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act; or

2. Documentation that the activity fits within a habitat conservation plan approved pursuant to Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act; or

3. Documentation that the activity fits within Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act; or

4. An assessment prepared in accordance with the most current Regional Guidance for Floodplain Habitat Assessment and Mitigation, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Region X. The assessment shall determine if the project would adversely affect:

a. The primary constituent elements identified when a species is listed as threatened or endangered;

b. Essential fish habitat designated by the National Marine Fisheries Service;

c. Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas;

d. Vegetation communities and habitat structures;

e. Water quality;

f. Water quantity, including flood and low flow depths, volumes and velocities;

g. The channel’s natural planform pattern and migration processes;

h. Spawning substrate, if applicable; and/or

i. Floodplain refugia, if applicable.

1. If the assessment conducted under subsection B of this section concludes the proposed project is expected to have an adverse effect on water quality and/or aquatic or riparian habitat or habitat functions, the applicant shall provide a plan to mitigate those impacts, in accordance with the current Regional Guidance for Floodplain Habitat Assessment and Mitigation, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Region X.

a. If the proposed project is located outside of the protected area, the mitigation plan shall include such avoidance, minimization, restoration, or compensation measures as are appropriate for the situation.

b. If the proposed project is located within the protected area, the mitigation plan shall include such appropriate measures as are needed to ensure that there is no adverse effect due to the project. Minimization measures are not allowed in the protected area, unless they, in combination with other measures, result in no adverse effect. No compensatory mitigation is allowed in the protected area.

2. The plan’s habitat mitigation activities shall be incorporated into the proposed project. The floodplain development permit shall be based on the redesigned project and its mitigation components.

3. A certificate of occupancy or final inspection approval for a project shall not be issued until all work identified in the biological evaluation, biological assessment, or mitigation plan has been completed or the applicant has provided the necessary assurances that unfinished portions of the project will be completed.

D. Compensatory Storage. New development shall not reduce the effective flood storage volume of the regulatory floodplain. A development proposal shall provide compensatory storage if grading or other activity displaces any effective flood storage volume. Compensatory storage shall:

1. Provide equivalent volume at equivalent elevations to that being displaced. For this purpose, “equivalent elevation” means having similar relationship to ordinary high water and to the best available 10-year, 50-year and 100-year water surface profiles;

2. Be hydraulically connected to the source of the flooding; and

3. Provide compensatory storage in the same construction season as when the displacement of flood storage volume occurs and before flood season begins.

4. The newly created storage area shall be graded and vegetated to allow fish access during flood events without creating fish stranding sites. [Ord. 726 § 2(Exh. A), 2019; Ord. 659 § 2, 2017; Ord. 630 § 4, 2015; Ord. 362 § 3, 2004.]