19.16.070 Application of environmental analysis and impact statement.
All actions by the city in approving a short plat shall be exempt from any environmental analysis or environmental impact statement, unless the responsible SEPA official determines that said short plat is located wholly or partially within a “sensitive area” authorized by WAC 197-11-908. The city planner may require additional information from the applicant to determine whether the project must be reviewed under SEPA. Preliminary approval of the short subdivision shall not be given until all applicable requirements of SEPA are fulfilled. If a stream or natural drainage way exists in the proposed short subdivision, it shall not be altered until an assessment is made of potential environmental effects and, if required, mitigation or modifications implemented.
“Sensitive area” is defined as any area which:
A. Contains significant threats to the environment, arising from earth slides or flooding from a flood of a frequency expected to recur on the average of once every one hundred years of a flood magnitude which has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year; or
B. Contains any special natural values such as a marshland or habitation place of substantial concentrations of flora or fauna or of rare or endangered species of flora or fauna; or
C. Is being given special attention because of a problem of critically low or declining resource supply or quality; or
D. Contains elements having significant aesthetic, recreational or historical value; or
E. Is within “shorelines of the state” as defined in the Shoreline Management Act of 1971 as now or hereafter amended. (Ord. 1190-21 § 2 (Exh. A), 2021; Ord. 1016-08 § 2).