A. No plant, wildlife, or fish species not indigenous to the region shall be introduced into a habitat conservation area except with approval of a state or federal agency with expertise.

B. Preference in mitigation shall be given to contiguous wildlife habitat corridors.

C. In reviewing development proposals, the town shall seek opportunities to restore degraded riparian fish and wildlife functions such as breeding, rearing, migration, and feeding.

D. The town shall require buffers of undisturbed native vegetation adjacent to habitat conservation areas as necessary. Buffer widths shall reflect the sensitivity of the habitat and may reflect the intensity of nearby human activity.

E. When a species is more sensitive to human activity during a specific season of the year, the town may establish an extra outer buffer from which human activity is excluded during said season.

F. No development shall be allowed within a habitat conservation area or buffer with which state or federal endangered, threatened, or sensitive species have a primary association, except in exchange for restoration as approved by the director or as provided in a management plan approved by a state or federal agency with appropriate expertise.

G. When a development permit is applied for on land containing or adjacent to a bald eagle nest or communal roost, the town shall notify the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and otherwise comply with WAC 220-610-100.

H. No development shall be permitted which degrades the functions or values of anadromous fish habitat, including structures or fills which impact migration or spawning.

I. Construction and other activities shall be seasonally restricted as necessary to protect the resource. Activities shall be timed to occur during work windows designated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for applicable fish species.

J. Shoreline erosion control shall use bioengineering methods or soft armoring in accordance with an approved critical areas report.

K. The following table establishes the standard width of stream buffers (also known as riparian habitat areas) that shall apply to each stream type. The town of South Prairie has maps showing streams of each type. Widths shall be measured outward in each direction, on the horizontal plane, from the ordinary high water mark, or from the top of bank if the ordinary high water mark cannot be identified, or from the outer edge of the channel migration zone when present.

L. The director may increase the standard buffer width as necessary to fully protect riparian functions. For example, the buffer may be extended to the outer edge of the floodplain or windward into an area of high tree blowdown potential.

M. The director may reduce the standard buffer width in exchange for restoration of degraded areas in accordance with an approved plan, or for buffer averaging in accordance with SPMC 15.18.130. The director may also reduce the standard buffer width wherever the proposed adjoining upland land use is of low intensity and low impact, such as passive-use parks.

N. If the stream enters an underground culvert or pipe, and is unlikely to ever be restored above ground, the director may waive the buffer along the undergrounded stream; provided, that where the stream enters and emerges from the pipe the opposite outer edges of the buffer shall be joined by a radius equal to the buffer width, with said radius projecting over the piped stream.

O. The shoreline master program, not this critical areas code, shall determine allowable uses along and setbacks from lakes; provided, that this critical areas code shall govern wetlands, streams, and other critical areas lying within areas of shoreline management jurisdiction.

P. To the extent facilities are allowed in habitat conservation areas, the following regulations shall apply: