Everett: Critical Areas Ordinance Update
Everett is moving forward with a crucial update to its Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO), a sweeping legislative process mandated by the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA). This isn't just routine housekeeping; it's a necessary step to bring local development regulations in line with the latest science and state requirements. On September 16, 2025, the Planning Commission was briefed on the significant proposed changes aimed at both protecting the city's natural environment and ensuring residents' safety. This update is vital to guaranteeing "no net loss" of ecological functions and values and must be rigorously based on the Best Available Science (BAS), with special attention paid to safeguarding anadromous fisheries like salmon.
Everett is rich in critical natural resources that require stringent protection. The city's landscape includes approximately 72 miles of streams and over 800 acres of mapped wetlands, crucial features that provide essential ecological services. Furthermore, thousands of acres are designated as geologically hazardous or frequently flooded areas, posing potential risks to life and property.
Critical Areas are grouped into five federally and state-defined categories:
Wetlands
Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas (CARAs)
Frequently Flooded Areas
Geologically Hazardous Areas
Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas (FWHCAs)
Protecting these areas is essential not only for ecological functions—such as maintaining water quality, supporting healthy hydrology, and providing essential habitat—but also for public safety through focused risk minimization and avoidance measures.
The overall update effort will involve a general reorganization of the Everett Municipal Code Chapter 19.37 to streamline regulations, organize content by critical area type, and improve clarity regarding purpose, report requirements, and development standards. The substance of the changes, however, is being driven by new scientific guidance and state agency feedback:
Wetlands: Regulations will incorporate the 2022 Ecology Guidance Document. This involves adopting updated definitions, utilizing reformatted tables for buffers, and integrating new minimization measures that reflect the latest interagency mitigation standards.
Geologic Hazards: The city is coordinating closely with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to update definitions, formally include regulations for tsunami hazard areas (along with references to DNR mapping), and refine the qualifications required for professionals conducting geologically hazardous assessments.
Fish and Wildlife Habitat (Riparian Buffers): The Central Debate This category represents the most complex and potentially impactful area of the update. New science from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), published in 2020, forms the basis for updated riparian management recommendations. WDFW strongly recommends using Site Potential Tree Height (SPTH)—a metric based on the height a dominant conifer is expected to reach in 200 years—to determine Riparian Management Zone (RMZ) widths. This methodology is based on the science that old growth forest conditions are necessary to achieve "full riparian functions," such as shade, large woody debris recruitment, and pollution filtration.
The challenge for Everett is significant. While the city's existing stream buffers currently range from 50 to 150 feet based on stream typing, the WDFW's SPTH-based approach could mandate significantly wider stream buffers, potentially ranging from 94 to 243 feet across different areas of the city. City staff highlighted that, as a heavily developed Metropolitan Center, implementing this costly, time-consuming, and sometimes unpredictable methodology presents unique challenges to property owners and reviewers.
Crucially, the Planning Commission was specifically asked to deliberate on whether to direct staff to explore alternative riparian protection standards. These alternatives would seek to achieve the goals of the BAS without strictly adopting the SPTH method, thereby acknowledging the unique complexities of an already dense, urbanized environment.