Friday Harbor Shoreline Program Up for Review

A program to manage roughly 19,400 linear feet of shoreline within Friday Harbor’s city limits is under state review.

The Washington Department of Ecology is seeking public comment on the recently updated shoreline master program through April 24, 2015.

The updated shoreline program will guide construction and development in the town’s saltwater and freshwater shoreline areas, much of which lies around 52-acre Trout Lake.

The locally tailored program is designed to protect the shoreline environment, reserve appropriate areas for water-oriented uses, and protect people’s access to public land and waters. The proposed shoreline program:

– Protects existing shoreline vegetation and encourages the re-establishment of native shoreline vegetation;

– Limits the length of new residential docks and piers to the minimum necessary, up to an established construction line limit, or up to 200 feet where the line does not exist;

– Recognizes existing development patterns by establishing 25- and 50-foot residential setbacks in two residential designations.

Friday Harbor adopted its shoreline plan on June 26, 2014. Once approved by Ecology, the city’s shoreline program will become part of the overall state shoreline master program.

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