Background
In the spring of 2005, the City of Spokane Planning Services
Department received a grant from the State Department of Ecology to update the
city’s Shoreline Master Program (SMP), which was originally adopted on March 22,
1976. RCW 90.58.080 requires governments to develop or amend a master program
for regulation of uses of the shorelines of the state consistent with the
required elements of the guidelines adopted by the Department of Ecology. The
City of Spokane SMP update deals with the shorelines of the Spokane River and
Latah Creek within the limits of the City of Spokane. The process to
update the program includes 11 tasks mandated by the State and is expected to
last through June of 2007. A short word document was created to explain the
tasks involved.
The nature of
the Spokane River and Latah Creek necessitates regional involvement in the
creation of a meaningful SMP. To address regional concerns and the need to
coordinate across jurisdictions, the Planning Services Department recently
formed a Technical Advisory Committee comprised of representatives from local,
regional, and state agencies or organizations to contribute their expertise to
this endeavor. Members of the Technical Advisory Committee will be called upon
for advice, when needed, and the committee will meet occasionally to coordinate
technical advisory efforts. For more information on the Shoreline Technical
Advisory Committee (STAC).
In addition,
Planning Staff has developed a citizen participation plan for the update
process. The City will be following the citizen participation plan requirements
of
RCW 90.58.130. Stakeholder round table discussions and public open houses
are being held periodically as the process unfolds. We will notify the public
of program progress and events through newspaper notices and media releases.
The City of Spokane Plan Commission and City Council will be kept informed
throughout the process until final adoption of the plan. The State of Washington
Department of Ecology also approves and adopts the plan, and staff will be
working closely with the state during the process. A
calendar of Shoreline related events
is also available. The Shoreline Update team
has information available at Upcoming Open
House which is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at the
West Central Community Center, 1603 N. Belt, 326-9540, Newton Room from
5:30-7:30 p.m.
The City hired
URS Corporation to help with the SMP update. The
majority of their work will focus on inventory and analysis of conditions of
shorelines of state significance, development of a restoration plan, and
assisting staff in developing shoreline designations, goals, and policies. URS
gathered data for the inventory and conducted field work in the spring of 2006.
The final draft inventory and analysis was completed in March 2007 and is available for review in the
URS webpage. Non-digital versions
of URS documents are
available by request from the Planning Services Department. Please take the
opportunity to review these materials and if you have any comments please contact
the Planning Services Shoreline Update Team at
shorelines@spokanecity.org .
 The
Inventory and Analysis Report is a major component of the SMP Update Phase I. To
view more information about Phase I
click here. Currently
Phase I has moved through City Council as a
resolution.
The hearing on the resolution was held on . This resolution established a formal
recognition of the Phase I body of work.
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