Growth Management Hearings Board dismisses appeal of Kenmore’s Shoreline Master Program

The Growth Management Hearings Board issued a final decision and order dismissing the appeal of the City of Kenmore’s  Shoreline Master Program (SMP) on Feb. 27.

The Shoreline Master Program went into effect on March 30, 2012 following the State Department of Ecology’s approval issued on March 16, 2012.

The City’s SMP provides goals, policies, development regulations, and permitting procedures for “shorelines of the state,” which in Kenmore includes Lake Washington, the Sammamish River, the main stem of Swamp Creek, and all lands 200 feet landward of or associated with these waters.

The appeal was filed on June 4, 2012, by two Kenmore citizens, who were later joined by another citizen, who asserted that the City’s Shoreline Master Program failed to enact adequate provisions to protect ecological functions of the downtown shoreline in light of a 2011 dredge report finding high levels of dioxins in sediment below a downtown waterfront private marina property.

The Board’s decision found that Kenmore’s Shoreline Master Program inventory documented existing contamination of the downtown waterways and shoreline and that the policies, development regulations and restoration plan provided the necessary response.

The Board concluded that the petitioners failed to meet their burden of providing clear and convincing evidence that the State Department of Ecology’s approval was noncompliant with the applicable policies and guidelines.

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