Shoreline Management Program

On April 9, the Millwood City Council approved the Shoreline Master Plan Update. The action completes a year-and-a-half long process for updating the city's shoreline regulations. The purpose of the update was to bring the city's shoreline regulations into compliance with Washington State regulations. This is the first time the regulations have been revised since they were adopted in 1996. Shoreline master programs are a cornerstone of Washington’s Shoreline Management Act, approved by voters in 1972 to help protect shore areas and water quality, and  manage shoreline development.

 

The SMP has been submitted to the Department of Ecology for its review and approval.

 

SMP Documents

Shoreline Master Plan v 2.0 The updated plan is the regulatory document which contains the goals, policies and regulations, environment designations, use and modification policies, that are applied to the shoreline area.

 

Cumulative Impacts Analysis v 1.6 This document describes the current condition of the shoreline and expected impacts of development. Click here to read the draft Cumulative Impacts Analysis.

 

Restoration Plan v 1.6 This document contains a strategy to address shoreline restoration efforts to achieve natural shoreline function by planning for and fostering restoration through the SMP and other regulatory and non-regulatory programs. Click here for the draft Shoreline Restoration Plan.

 

Click here to read Resolution #2013-01 which adopts the SMP

 

The City completed the update Under a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology. 

Public Hearing

 

The City Council conducted its closed-record hearing on the draft SMP on December 18, 2012.

 

The Millwood Planning Commission conducted its first hearing on the draft SMP documents on September 24, 2012.  The commission continued the hearing to allow more time for public comment to Monday, October 15, 2012.  On October 29 the Planning Commission concluded its review of the draft SMP, and voted to recommend its approval by the city council.

 

Written Comments Received

                    Futurewise, September 24, 2012

                    Futurewise, October 15, 2012 (on behalf of Futurewise, The Lands Council, the Spokane Riverkeeper and the Center for Justice)

                    Witherspoon-Kelley (Inland Empire Paper Company), September 24, 2012

                    Witherspoon-Kelley (Inland Empire Paper Company), October 15, 2102

                    University Legal Assistance October 15, 2012

 

                   NEW:

                   Futurewise, March 25, 2013 (received April 1, 2013)

                   Witherspoon-Kelley (Inland Empire Paper Company), April 4, 2013

 

 

Public Participation Plan

 

Public participation is very important to the process.  The first opportunity for public participation was the Community Visioning meeting which was held on November 8, 2011. To see a synopsis of that meeting, select the following link: Visioning Report.  The reults from the Visioning meeting are reflected in the updated Shoreline Master Plan.

 

The City appointed a Shoreline citizen Advisory Committee consisting of river-front property woners and other citizesn, to serve as a sounding board and to review and provide comments as the SMP documents were developed. The CAC completed its work in June, and the SMP moved on to the next phase, review by the Millwood Planning Commission.

 

The planning commission reviewed the draft documents during a series of workshop sessions in July, August and September.  The commission held a public hearing on the final drafts during its regular September meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, September 24.  The hearing was continued to October 15, 2012. The Planning Commission concluded the public hearing on October 15 and approved the commission's written recommendation on Monday, October 29, 2012.

 

Please click on this link to see the Public Participation Plan.  Meeting dates are on the last page of this document.

 

For more information, use the "Contact Us" button at the top of the page.

Other Documents

While preparing for the Visioning Meeting, staff was busy compiling data on Millwood's jurisdictional responsiblity and completing a characterization of the shoreline of the Spokane River as it passes through the City.  The following two links will take you to the results of the characterization study:

 

     1)  Phase 1: Assessment of Jurisdiction and Public Participation and

     2)  Phase 2: Shoreline Inventory, Analysis and Characterization

 

The regulatory structure of the Shoreline Master Plan is built upon Environmental Designations, each with its own set of development regulations. In Millwood the Environmental Designations are Shoreline Residential, Shoreline Industrial and Public Reserve. Click here to see descriptions of each area.

 

Here is a link to the City's current SMP.  This document will be replaced when the updated version is adopted by City Council and the Washington State Department of Ecology.

 

You can read the Department of Ecology's shoreline blog here.