At 117 pages, the preliminary draft of the Grays Harbor County Shoreline Master Program (SMP) update is not an easy read. However, it is an important document for those who live, work or enjoy the shorelines of unincorporated Grays Harbor County waters.
While not every river or stream is affected, some of the shorelines include those on the Chehalis River, Cloquallum Creek, Hoquiam River, Humptulips River, Wishkah River, Wynoochee River and Quinault River, in addition to lakes and the shorelines of the Grays Harbor estuary and the Pacific Ocean.
Hired by the county as a consultant, John Kliem, of Creative Community Solutions, spoke to a crowd of about 25 people on Thursday, Sept. 8, and explained the document in detail at an open house held in the Grays Harbor County building.
A similar open house was held in Pacific Beach on Sept. 13, and another will be held tonight in Ocosta at the Ocosta Recreational Hall (1682 SR 105, Aberdeen) at 6 p.m.
Kliem began the presentation with a brief history of the Shoreline Management Act (SMA). Passed by the citizens of Washington in 1972 in an effort to protect one of the state’s most valuable resources, the SMA identifies preferred uses on shorelines, outlines protections for those shorelines and provides for public access.
The SMP for Grays Harbor County, Kliem said, defines how the county manages development along its shorelines and specifies features such as local geography, environment, economy and types of activities that happen on the unique shorelines within the county.
The county is not unique in that every city and county with shorelines of significance has had to update their program. Amendments made to the SMA in 1995 by the State Legislature require periodic reviews to ensure the county’s SMP is consistent with state law.
“Every jurisdiction has had to update and review their program,” Kliem said.
Terry Willis, who lives south of Brady between the Satsop and Chehalis rivers, is a member of the Grays Harbor County Shoreline Planning Committee. At the open house, Willis said that because waterways in the State of Washington fall under so many other layers, the committee made recommendations to make the county’s SMP less of a burden on property owners and businesses.
Essentially, the program ensures that there is no net loss of ecological function on the county’s shorelines while giving provisions for landowners to work within the SMP.
“Are the changes huge? No, not really,” Kliem said.
Questions and comments from the audience were mainly about issues specific to landowners.
Kliem said the next step in the adoption process was for the county planning commission to review the document. After that, the SMP will go before the Grays Harbor County Board of Commissioners for approval. After the county adopts a draft, the Department of Ecology will review the document and possibly hold a public hearing.
The draft document is available at ghsmp.org.
