Shoreline Master Program Update

Overview

The City of Moses Lake updated its Shoreline Master Program, the rules for development within 200' of the lake. The updated SMP took effect Jan. 17, 2017.

RCW 90.58, the Shoreline Management Act, requires that all counties and cities with water bodies have a shoreline master program that meets certain guidelines.

The City's previous Master Program (PDF) was adopted in 1974. There were a few minor updates, the last of them in 1988. State regulations have changed since then, and so has everyone's understanding of the importance of protecting the shoreline.

During the update process, the City:

  • Used a State grant to hire consultants to prepare a comprehensive inventory of shoreline conditions (PDF) and propose regulations based on those existing conditions
  • Reviewed the drafts with the Planning Commission and the public
  • Revised the drafts based on comments received from the public, Planning Commission, and Department of Ecology
  • Intensively reviewed the revised drafts with the Planning Commission and made further revisions
  • Received comments from the Department of Ecology and discussed them with the Planning Commission
  • Used a State grant to hire a consultant to perform a Cumulative Impacts Analysis, a required step that evaluates the impacts of the proposed Shoreline Master Program
  • Held an Open House Oct. 3, 2013 to discuss the draft to that point
  • Further reviewed the draft and Cumulative Impacts Analysis with the Planning Commission
  • Held another Open House Jan. 29, 2014 to further discuss the draft
  • Held a public hearing on the draft Feb. 27, 2014.
  • On March 27, 2014, the Planning Commission recommended that the City Council adopt the draft.
  • Issued a Determination of Non-Significance (DNS (PDF)) on April 28.
  • Held a public hearing in front of the City Council May 13. The hearing was continued to June 24, 2014.
  • Held a public comment period through June 30, 2014.
  • Drafted a Response to Comments (PDF) which was approved by the City Council August 26, 2014.
  • Approved the Council Draft SMP on October 14, 2014.
  • Mailed the Council Draft SMP to the Department of Ecology on December 3, 2014.
  • Sent a response to public comments received (PDF) to Ecology on July 29, 2015. This completed the formal submittal of the SMP.

Draft Shoreline Master Program

The Planning Commission's draft Shoreline Master Program is available here. The draft was updated to reflect the Response to Comments approved by the City Council August 26, 2014. The City Council's draft Shoreline Master Program is available here.

Public Comment Period

The Department of Ecology held a public comment period from Feb. 2 - March 4, 2015. All interested parties were invited to provide comments on the Council Draft SMP to Ecology. See Ecology's Moses Lake SMP page for more information. Five comments were received. The City responded to the comments (PDF).