COMMUNITY VISIONING SUMMARY REPORT TASK 3.1 COWLITZ COUNTY SHORELINES Cowlitz County and the Cities of Castle Rock, Kalama, Kelso, and Woodland Prepared for: Cowlitz County Shoreline Partnership Cowlitz Wahkiakum Council of Governments 207 Fourth Avenue North Kelso, WA 98626 Prepared By: Normandeau Associates, Inc. 1010 Washington Street, Suite 260 Vancouver, WA 98660 360‐694‐2300 MARCH 18, 2012 Community Visioning Report Cowlitz County Shoreline Master Program Update Table of Contents BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................... 1 COMMUNITY OUTREACH .............................................................................................................................. 1 COMMUNITY VISIONING SESSIONS .............................................................................................................. 2 COWLITZ COUNTY VISION ......................................................................................................................... 4 CITY OF CASTLE ROCK VISION ................................................................................................................... 8 CITY OF KALAMA VISION ......................................................................................................................... 10 CITY OF KELSO VISION ............................................................................................................................. 12 CITY OF WOODLAND VISION ................................................................................................................... 13 STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS ........................................................................................................................ 14 SURVEY ........................................................................................................................................................ 16 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................... 16 APPENDIX A – PUBLIC OUTREACH MEMORANDUM ................................................................................. A‐1 APPENDIX B – TRIBAL OUTREACH .............................................................................................................. B‐1 APPENDIX C – POWERPOINT PRESENTATION ............................................................................................ C‐1 APPENDIX D – MEETING NOTES & COMMENTS ....................................................................................... D‐1 APPENDIX E – SURVEYS .............................................................................................................................. E‐1 APPENDIX F – STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS ................................................................................................ F‐1 i Community Visioning Report Cowlitz County Shoreline Master Program Update BACKGROUND The local Shoreline Master Program (SMP) is a plan and set of regulations required by the Shoreline Management Act (SMA), approved by Washington Voters in 1972. The SMA provides a framework for local governments and the state Department of Ecology to manage and protect shorelines through a locally tailored program. This SMA update strives to achieve three goals: 1. Responsible shoreline use and development; 2. Environmental protection of shoreline resources; and 3. Protect the public’s access to use the shorelines (Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 90.58.020). COMMUNITY OUTREACH The County’s SMP is 35 years old. Cowlitz County formed a partnership with the Cities of Castle Rock, Kalama, Kelso, and Woodland to make the required updates to the each jurisdiction’s SMP to ensure the local goals, policies, and regulations are consistent with state guidelines. This Community Visioning Summary Report has been prepared to fulfill Task 3.1 of the current SMP Update and for compliance with the partnership’s grant awarded by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). To begin gathering public input, a series of community visioning meetings were held on the following dates at the following locations: November 13, 2012 at 7:00 PM for the City of Kelso at the Kelso City Hall in Kelso, Washington November 14, 2012 at 7:00 PM for Cowlitz County at the County Administration Building in Kelso, Washington November 15, 2012 at 7:00 PM for the City of Woodland at the Woodland Community Center in Woodland, Washington December 5, 2012 at 6:00 PM for the City of Castle Rock at the Castle Rock Senior Center in Castle Rock, Washington December 13, 2012 at 7:00 PM for the City of Kalama at the Kalama City Hall in Kalama, Washington January 9, 2013 at 6:00 PM for northern Cowlitz County at Toutle Lake School in Toutle, Washington A more detailed report of public outreach for the community visioning meetings can be found in Appendix A – Public Outreach Memorandum. Public outreach for the meetings consisted of: Press releases to local news media outlets including both newspaper and radio; Announcements and text provided to organizations to distribute through their membership newsletters; Posters announcing each jurisdiction’s meeting displayed at frequently trafficked locations and businesses in each jurisdiction; 1 Community Visioning Report Cowlitz County Shoreline Master Program Update Paid radio advertising on six different radio stations from November 12, 2012 to December 14, 2012; Announcements and text for the Cowlitz‐Wahkiakum Council of Governments (COG) electronic mail blast list and the electronic mail blast list compiled for the project; and Posting meeting schedule, frequently asked questions sheet, and other information on the www.cowlitzshorelineupdate.org project website. COG also formally notified the tribes and Columbia River Inter‐Tribal Fish Commission and invited the organizations to participate in the process (see Appendix B – Tribal Outreach). COMMUNITY VISIONING SESSIONS At the visioning meetings, a PowerPoint presentation was provided to attendees (see Appendix B – PowerPoint Presentation). The presentation provided a SMA overview and discussion of the Comprehensive Plan. The overview of the SMA, SMP Update, and Comprehensive plan included A copy of the draft inventory analysis is available on the www.cowlitzshorelineupdate.org project website. The presentation asked the participants to consider potential vision issues including: Integration of the SMP with Comprehensive Plan and zoning; Consistency with shoreline goals and the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning; and Whether or not changes to upland policies or regulations should be considered as a result of examining issues related to the shoreline The purpose of the community visioning workshops was to gather the concerns, suggestions, ideas, and desired future outcomes of the participants with respect to the future of the shorelines in their respective jurisdictions. The presentation also asked participants the following questions related to the SMP Update broad governing principles including: Use priorities Is there sufficient land in the community for water‐dependent, port uses? Does the county have adequate support for maintaining navigable waters, particularly those with a maintained dredged channel? Is there a need for recreational water‐dependent uses such as marinas? Is there a need for water enjoyment uses that provide opportunities for the public to enjoy the physical and aesthetic qualities of the shoreline? Are there uses especially important to local communities with specific land use code provisions that should be incorporated? Public access Are there specific types of public access that are not currently adequate? Are there areas where the public should not have greater shoreline access because of sensitive ecological resources? 2 Community Visioning Report Cowlitz County Shoreline Master Program Update Are there areas in public ownership that could provide additional public access? Are there publicly financed projects that could provide additional benefits of providing public access? Are properties that make use of public navigable waters making adequate provisions for public access? Should new development along the shoreline provide additional public access? Should public agencies increase public access by purchasing land and/or easements? No net loss, and Are there important species of fish or wildlife in the area that are threatened by current patterns of use of the shoreline? Are there areas of the community that should be preserved in their natural state? Does this include privately owned lands? Are there areas of the community that have been so altered that there are few natural ecological functions and future changes should be relatively unconstrained? Are there areas of the community that have important ecological functions, but that also are important for port of other uses that should take precedent over preservation? Are there areas of the community that have been altered but should be targeted for restoration? If there is a need to preserve or enhance ecological values of certain areas, what is the fair share between private parties and the general public? Are there actions that individual private property owners on the shoreline can take that will make a positive contribution to preserving or enhancing ecological functions over time? Modifications Shoreline stabilization guidelines template discourages “hard armoring”