Planning & Community Development
Libby Hudson, Planning Manager (Email) (206) 780-3767
The City is in the process of updating the
Bainbridge Island Shoreline Management Master Program which embodies our community’s vision for the management of our shorelines and the regulations for implementing that vision. Shoreline management is governed under the Washington State Shoreline Management Act and is the shared responsibility of the City and the Washington State Department of Ecology. The geographic jurisdiction of the SMMP includes all marine waters within the
City’s boundaries and the tide lands or bed lands underlying them as well as all shorelands (i.e. uplands) extending landward for 200 feet in all directions as measured on a horizontal plane from the ordinary high water mark, floodways and contiguous floodplains, or associated wetlands. The regulatory jurisdiction of the SMMP includes all uses, developments, and activities.
The update of the SMMP is one component of the City’s Salmon Recovery and Conservation Strategy. This update is based upon a review of our existing SMMP and the Bainbridge Island Nearshore Assessment project and an extensive public participation process. The update of the Shoreline Management Master Program will result in the following documents that will improve shoreline management and the administration of shoreline regulations:
- Shoreline Management Element (Goals & policies, amending the Comprehensive Plan)
- Shoreline Management Code (Regulations, amending BIMC 16.12)
- Shoreline Management Administrative Code (Regulations, amending BIMC 2.16)
- Shoreline Management Implementation Manual (Public & staff desk-top manual)
- Shoreline Management Work Plan (Long-term management plan)
Public Participation: The City has conduced an extensive public process, including public meetings, public hearings, public workshops, notices, advertisements, and publications. To date, hundreds of people have participated in the process and the City has received hundreds of written and oral comments.
The Shoreline Management Act encourages a high level of citizen and agency participation. You are encouraged to provide written comments and attend public meetings. Email
To enter your comments into the official record, you can provide oral testimony at public meetings and hearings or submit written comments to the Planning Department.
When commenting: date your written correspondence; provide your name, address, and other contact information; identify what document, section, and even specific page, paragraph, provision, or sentence on which you are commenting.
Previous Activity: Staff began reviewing the current Shoreline Management Master Program (SMMP) and conducting shoreline inventory work in 2001. Staff presented shoreline management goal and policy recommendations to the Shoreline Management Update Steering Committee. After 6 months of dedicated work revising staff recommendations, the Steering Committee forwarded their recommendations for a Shoreline Management Element to the Planning Commission in June 2002. After 4 months of reviewing and revising the Steering Committee’s Recommendations, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the draft Shoreline Management Element on September 12, 2002. City staff also held a series of four workshops around the Island to discuss the Shoreline Management Update. Following that public hearing, the Planning Commission held several public comment meetings, workshops, and study sessions with the principal focus of that work on the issues of shoreline buffers and shoreline stabilization (i.e. armoring). The Planning Commission presented their recommendation to the City Council Land Use Committee in January 2003.
Current Activity: Since 2003, the City Council has directed staff to focus on education and outreach. When the update process begins again, a schedule for the completion of the Shoreline Management Update process will be posted to this web page, broadly advertised to the public, and noticed to those on our notification list.
Related Documents:
Chronology of Events and Public Meetings
Introduction to the Shoreline Management Act
SMP Guidelines
New Shoreline Management Master Program Outline
Draft Shoreline Management Element (September 12, 2002)
Citation Tracking Tables (September 12, 2002)
