Skip to main content
Loading…
This section is included in your selections.

“100-year flood” means a flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

“Alter” means to change a critical area or its buffer, including grading, filling, dredging, clearing, construction, compaction, excavation, and pollution.

“Anadromous” refers to fish that spawn and rear in freshwater and mature in saltwater.

“Applicant” means a person who applies for a development permit from the town.

“Aquifer” means a geological formation capable of yielding water to a well or spring.

“Best available science” means scientific information applicable to the critical area prepared by local, state, or federal natural resource agencies, a qualified scientific professional, or team of qualified scientific professionals that is consistent with criteria established in WAC 365-195-900 through 365-195-925.

“Best management practices” means actions known to protect soil, water quality, vegetation, and critical areas.

“Buffer” means an area contiguous to and required for protection of a critical area.

“Channel migration zone” means the lateral extent of likely movement of a stream or river during the next 100 years as evidenced by movement over the past 100 years.

“Conservation easement” means a legal agreement that the property owner enters into to restrict uses of the land in a manner that conserves natural functions.

“Critical aquifer recharge area” means an area with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water, as discussed in WAC 365-190-080(2). Within such areas, pollutants seeping into the ground are likely to contaminate the water supply.

“Critical area” means wetlands, aquifer recharge areas, floodplains, geologically hazardous areas, and habitat conservation areas.

“Development” means any land use or action that alters a critical area or its buffer, including town approvals that establish patterns of use such as subdivisions, short subdivisions, rezones, and conditional use permits.

“Director” means the town planner or any other person designated by the mayor for the purposes of administering and interpreting this chapter.

“Fish habitat” means habitat used by fish at any life stage at any time of the year.

“Floodplain” means the land area subject to inundation by a 100-year flood.

“Floodway” means the watercourse channel and adjacent land area that must be reserved in order to discharge the 100-year flood without cumulatively increasing the water elevation more than one foot.

“Functions and values” means the benefits conferred by critical areas, including water quality protection, fish and wildlife habitat, flood storage and conveyance, ground water recharge, erosion control, and protection from hazards.

“Hazardous substance” means a liquid, solid, or gas that exhibits any of the properties described in WAC 173-303-090 or 173-303-100.

“Historic” means existing before the area was altered by human activity.

“Impact” means to adversely affect a natural system or increase the hazard, which a natural system poses to human life and property.

“Impervious” refers to a hard surface area that retards the entry of water into the soil.

“Lowest floor” excludes unfinished enclosures usable only for parking, building access, or storage.

“Monitoring” means assessing the performance of mitigation measures by collection and analysis of data on changes in natural systems.

“Ordinary high water mark” means that mark on the bed or bank below which inundation is so common in ordinary years that the soil and/or vegetation are distinct from that of the abutting upland.

“Person” means any person, organization, or other group.

“Primary association” means a relationship between a species and a habitat area whereby the species regularly uses or otherwise needs the habitat area to thrive.

“Rill” means a small, steep-sided channel caused by erosion.

“Riparian habitat” means streamside areas that influence the aquatic ecosystem by providing shade, debris, or insects and provide habitat for riparian wildlife.

“Species” means a group of animals commonly classified by the scientific community as a species or subspecies.

“Substantial improvement” means any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which exceeds 50 percent of the structure’s market value before the improvement, or, if the structure was damaged, before the damage occurred.

“Watercourse” means flowing waters of the state, perennial or intermittent, excluding artificial waterways such as ditches or canals not created by human alteration of a natural watercourse.

“Wetland mitigation bank” means a site where wetlands are restored, created, or enhanced to mitigate in advance authorized impacts to similar resources. [Ord. 492 § 3 (Exh. B § 103), 2007.]