Snohomish County Council member offers new proposal for habitat ordinance

EVERETT — Snohomish County Council member Jared Mead introduced a new amendment early last week to a draft update of the county’s Critical Area Regulations ordinance.

The new proposal, Amendment Three, comes after months of discussions on how to update the policy, with the council trying to find an appropriate balance between environmental preservation and the county’s desperate need for housing.

Amendment Three offers compromises between many of the new draft proposals and current codes, with Mead adding new protections to stream buffers.

The current code offers multiple incentives for developers to build fences around habitats in favor of getting buffer width reductions. The proposed ordinance from planning staff gets rid of most of these incentives, requiring the minimum buffer widths regardless of if fences are put in. Mead’s amendment keeps some of these incentives but decreases the buffer space developers can encroach on if they construct barriers.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/snohomish-county-council-member-offers-new-proposal-for-habitat-ordinance/