MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake city council decision not to accept the Department of Ecology’s proposed changes to the city’s Shoreline Master Program (SMP) could have a financial impact on the city’s general fund.

At a June 28 council meeting city staff forwarded the council a letter from the DOE, which gave notice of their intent to conditionally adopt Moses Lake’s SMP. At the meeting the council discussed two viable options in response to the DOE’s letter, which were either to agree to the DOE’s proposed changes or to submit an alternative proposal. The city is required by law to adopt a SMP that is in compliance with the 1971 Shoreline Management Act.

There was considerable discussion among councilmembers at the meeting, with most of the discussion revolving around wetland buffer zones. The council asked staff to provide a comparison between the city’s SMP and Grant County’s, with specific emphasis placed on buffer width standards and shoreline development standards. Cities are required to base their minimum wetland buffers on science and if the city is not able to provide scientific support, the buffers will default to the state’s requirements, according to Senior Planner Anne Henning.

“The city had only a brief analysis by their consultant, who tried to make a case for generalizing existing conditions to all wetlands,” Henning stated in a memo.

Wetlands are broken down into four specific categories, with the council taking issue with categories III and IV. The state proposed a standard buffer width of 60 feet in Category III and 40 feet in Category IV, while the city proposed a 25-foot buffer for both of the zones. Councilmembers believe the state’s proposed buffer zones could prevent people from building along the lake.

“This analysis is not as comprehensive as the state's work on the science of wetlands and buffers so does not constitute better information. Therefore, we must use the state's buffers for wetlands. Category Ill and IV were the only categories that must be changed,” Henning stated.

Councilmembers went into a 30-minute executive session with legal counsel during Tuesday night’s council meeting to discuss the issue. After the executive session Mayor Todd Voth read a statement detailing the council’s desire to for city staff to meet with the DOE.

“The council wishes to direct staff to make contact with your (DOE) regional planner Jeremy Sikes and inform him of our decision. The staff will sit down with Ecology staff to detail the work that is to be provided in the SMP alternative proposal,” Voth said.

Several community members voiced support for the council’s decision. Local realtor Mark Fancher thanked the council and city staff for their hard work in keeping the best interest of residents and property owners in mind.

“First and foremost as a representative of the Board of Realtors and Property Owners, thanks for the hard work. I just wanted to lend you support for you guys’ decision and hope that you keep sticking to your guns and working closely with ecology to get it done right with a reasonable buffer,” Fancher told the council.

Planning commission member Charles Hepburn urged the council to adopt the SMP as it was presented to the council from the commission.

“We spent a tremendous amount of time with this and believe that it’s correct and reasonable,” Hepburn told the council Tuesday night.

City documents state that because the council is considering an alternate SMP proposal, the city will need to enlist the services of an outside source for assistance, as city staff is “not in a position to address DOE’s concerns given the complexity of the issues.” City documents indicate that providing the DOE with an alternate SMP proposal will have a financial impact on the city’s general fund.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.