Chapter 18.280
FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT CONSERVATION AREAS
Sections:
18.280.040 Fish and wildlife habitat designations.
18.280.050 Buffer designations and widths.
18.280.060 Exempt and reviewed activities.
18.280.070 Standard requirements.
18.280.080 Reduction of habitat buffer widths.
18.280.100 Enhancement and mitigation.
18.280.110 Locally important habitat designation procedure.
18.280.010 Purpose.
The purpose of this section is to protect environmentally distinct, fragile and valuable fish and wildlife habitat areas for present and future generations, and to conserve the functional integrity of the habitats needed to perpetually support fish and wildlife populations, while also recognizing the need for development activities within the city of Battle Ground. (Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.020 Applicability.
This chapter applies to lands designated as fish and wildlife conservation areas as defined in BGMC 18.280.040. Activities are permitted within areas so designated if they do not substantially diminish the habitat functions and values and they are consistent with the standards of this chapter. (Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.030 Approval criteria.
A. Development or clearing activities shall protect the functions of the habitat conservation areas on the site. The activity shall result in no net loss of functions. Protection can be provided by avoiding (the preferred protection) or minimizing and mitigating as described in the general critical areas performance standards (BGMC 18.260.115). Functions include:
1. Providing habitat for breeding, rearing, foraging, protection and escape, migration, and over-wintering; and
2. Providing complexity of physical structure, supporting biological diversity, regulating stormwater runoff and infiltration, removing pollutants from water, and maintaining appropriate temperatures.
B. An applicant shall replace any lost functions by enhancement to other functions, so long as the applicant demonstrates that enhancement of the other functions provides no net loss in overall functions and maintains habitat connectivity. An example of unavoidable loss of function would be interruption of a travel corridor in a riparian management area or buffer. To the maximum extent feasible, enhancement shall be undertaken on-site.
C. Applicants for activity within critical habitat for federally endangered or threatened fish and wildlife species is subject to protections as established under Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. (Ord. 06-16 § 6, 2006: Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.040 Fish and wildlife habitat designations.
The following table of habitat areas are general descriptions and are designated as critical areas under this title.
|
Habitat Area |
General Description |
|---|---|
|
Locally Important Habitat |
Habitat that has been determined by the city to contain unusual or unique habitat warranting protection because of qualitative species diversity or habitat system health indicators and is rare within the city and surrounding region or represents the highest quality of available habitat. |
|
Locally Significant Waterfowl or Shorebird Areas |
Areas designated by ordinance as being important local habitat for the continued presence of waterfowl or shorebirds. |
|
Riparian Habitat |
Streams, rivers and associated riparian corridors. |
|
Priority Habitats—Salmon Creek, East Fork of the Lewis River |
The East Fork Lewis River and Salmon Creek including associated riparian corridors. |
|
Critical Habitat for Federally Threatened and Endangered Fish and Wildlife Species |
Habitat that has been determined by the Secretary of the Interior or Secretary of Commerce as critical habitat under Section 4(a) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and has been confirmed through a scientific analysis to occur within the city of Battle Ground. |
|
Oregon White Oak |
Stands of pure oak or oak/conifer associations of 1/2 acre or greater in size where canopy coverage of the oak component of the stand is 25 percent; or where total canopy coverage of the stand is less than 25 percent, but oak accounts for at least 50 percent of the canopy coverage present. Single trees or habitat areas of under 1/2 acre should be avoided but may be cleared if two trees a minimum of two inches DBH are planted on- or off-site but within or within one mile of the city urban growth boundary for each tree removed. |
(Ord. 06-16 § 7, 2006: Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.050 Buffer designations and widths.
A. The following table designates buffer width for federal and state protected habitats in Battle Ground.
|
Critical Area |
Buffer Width |
|---|---|
|
Locally Significant Waterfowl or Shorebird Areas |
Minimum 100 feet |
|
Priority Habitats—Salmon Creek, East Fork of the Lewis River |
250 feet |
|
Locally Important Habitat |
Buffers to be designated as habitat area during nomination process based on the needs of the habitat and species present. |
|
Riparian Corridors along Woodin Creek |
100-foot buffer, 50-foot undisturbed closest to creek, with 50-foot allowable uses such as trails |
|
Other riparian corridors for waterways not listed above |
50 feet |
|
Critical Habitat for Federally Threatened and Endangered Fish and Wildlife Species |
Subject to regulations established under Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. |
|
Oregon White Oak |
None |
B. The city of Battle Ground shall determine habitat buffer widths. All buffers shall be measured perpendicularly outward from the delineated habitat boundary or, in the case of a stream with no adjacent habitat, the ordinary high water mark as surveyed in the field. (Ord. 06-16 § 8, 2006: Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.060 Exempt and reviewed activities.
The following table lists activities that are exempt or require review under this chapter.
|
Proposal |
Is a clearing review required? |
|---|---|
|
Land division or other development activity entirely outside habitat areas or buffers |
Exempt |
|
Land division containing habitat areas or buffers |
Exempt if impacted lots establish building and clearing envelopes outside of habitat |
|
Fences |
Review required |
|
Remodel, replacement or expansion, not to exceed 25% of the 2004 footprint or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less, of existing home or existing accessory buildings inside habitat areas or buffers |
Exempt |
|
Farming, forestry or vegetation removal activities inside existing yards or areas of existing agricultural use |
Exempt |
|
Clearing authorized by forest practices applications other than conversions in habitat areas |
Exempt |
|
Clearing as minimally necessary for surveying or testing in habitat areas |
Exempt |
|
Development activities not specifically listed above in habitat areas |
Review required |
|
All other vegetation clearing not specifically listed above in habitat areas |
Review required |
(Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.070 Standard requirements.
All applications requiring review under this chapter shall have the following minimum conditions applied:
A. Marking Buffer During Construction. The location of the outer extent of the habitat buffer or, if no buffer is required, the habitat area shall be marked in the field and such markings shall be maintained throughout the duration of the permit.
B. Permanent Marking of Buffer Area. A permanent physical demarcation along the upland boundary of the habitat buffer area shall be installed and thereafter maintained. Such demarcation may consist of logs, a tree or hedgerow, wood or woodlike fencing, or other prominent physical marking approved by the director. In addition, signs measuring no more than six square feet in area and no shorter than four feet nor higher than six feet shall be posted at an interval of one per lot or every one hundred feet, whichever is less, and perpetually maintained at locations along the outer perimeter of the habitat buffer approved by the director worded substantially as follows:
—Habitat Buffer—
Please retain in a natural state
C. A conservation covenant shall be recorded in a form approved by the city attorney as adequate to incorporate the other restrictions of this section and to give notice of the requirement to obtain a permit prior to engaging in regulated activities within a habitat or its buffer.
D. In the cases of plats, short plats, and recorded site plans, include on the face of such instrument the boundary of the priority habitat and species and its buffer and a reference to the separately recorded conservation covenant provided for in subsection C of this section.
E. The signage noted above shall be installed prior to any land alteration or construction. (Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.080 Reduction of habitat buffer widths.
A. The director may allow the standard habitat buffer width to be reduced in accordance with an approved critical area report and the best available science on a case-by-case basis when it is determined that a smaller area is adequate to protect the habitat functions and values based on site-specific characteristics.
1. This determination shall be supported by documentation showing that a reduced buffer is adequate based on all of the following criteria:
a. The critical area report provides a sound rationale for a reduced buffer based on the best available science;
b. The existing buffer area is well-vegetated with native species and has less than ten percent slopes; and
c. No direct or indirect, short-term or long-term, adverse impacts to habitats will result from the proposed activity.
2. The director shall require five-year monitoring of the buffer and habitat. Subsequent corrective actions may be required if adverse impacts to the habitat are discovered during the monitoring period.
3. In no case shall the standard buffer width be reduced by more than fifty percent, or the buffer width be less than fifty feet.
B. Habitat Buffer Width Averaging. The director may allow modification of the standard habitat buffer width in accordance with an approved critical area report and the best available science on a case-by-case basis by averaging buffer widths. Buffer width reductions shall only be considered when:
1. It will not reduce habitat functions or values;
2. The habitat contains variations in sensitivity due to existing physical characteristics or the character of the buffer varies in slope, soils, or vegetation, and the habitat would benefit from a wider buffer in places and would not be adversely impacted by a narrower buffer in other places;
3. The total area contained in the buffer area after averaging is no less than that which would be contained within the standard buffer; and
4. The buffer width is not reduced to less than twenty-five percent of the standard width or fifty feet, whichever is greater.
C. Completing the following activities will result in reductions in the required buffer widths:
1. Shielding High Intensity Uses. Shielding the buffer from adjacent high intensity uses shall result in a decrease in such adjusted base buffer width of ten percent. Shielding includes, but is not limited to, berms and permanent solid fences. For commercial and industrial uses, shielding also includes orienting the building so the building itself acts as a shield to the buffer and habitat;
2. Hydrologic Improvement to the Habitat. Permanent improvements to the hydrology of a habitat ecosystem, such as removing a ditch that is draining a habitat, shall result in a decrease in the base buffer width of ten percent;
3. Fish and Wildlife Enhancement. Substantial improvements to the fish and wildlife habitat or buffer, such as importing snags or meandering a channelized stream, shall result in a decrease in the base width of ten percent.
4. The director shall require five-year monitoring of the buffer and habitat. Subsequent corrective actions may be required if adverse impacts to the habitat are discovered during the monitoring period.
5. In no case shall the standard buffer width be reduced by more than twenty-five percent, or the buffer width be less than fifty feet. (Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.090 Buffer activities.
A. Stormwater. Construction of stormwater facilities within a buffer is allowed provided all of the following conditions are met:
1. No removal of trees greater than four inches diameter at four and one-half feet above the ground or greater than twenty feet in height;
2. No disturbance of plant species that are listed as rare, threatened or endangered by the city of Battle Ground or any state or federal management agency;
3. No construction of concrete structures other than manholes, inlets, and outlets that are exposed above the normal water surface elevation of the facility;
4. No construction of maintenance and access roads;
5. No slope grading steeper than four to one horizontal to vertical above the normal water surface elevation of the stormwater facility;
6. The construction of pretreatment facilities such as forebays, sediment traps, and pollution control manholes in the buffer is not permitted;
7. The construction of trench drain collection and conveyance facilities in the buffer is not permitted;
8. The placement of fencing in the buffer is not permitted unless the fencing meets the conditions in subsection D of this section; and
9. The placement of rock and/or riprap is not allowed, except for the construction of flow spreaders, or the protection of pipe outfalls and overflow spillways; provided, that buffer functions for areas covered in rock and/or riprap are replaced.
B. Road and Utility Crossings. Crossing buffers with new roads and/or utilities is allowed provided all the following conditions are met:
1. Buffer functions, as they pertain to protection of the adjacent habitat and its functions, are replaced; and
2. Impacts to the buffer and habitat are minimized and mitigated.
C. Other Activities in a Buffer. Regulated activities not involving stormwater management, road and utility crossings, or a buffer reduction via enhancement are allowed in the buffer if all the following conditions are met:
1. The activity is temporary and will cease or be completed within three months of the date the activity begins;
2. The activity will not result in a permanent structure in or under the buffer;
3. The activity will not result in a reduction of buffer acreage, type, or functions;
4. The activity will not result in a reduction of habitat acreage, classification, or functions; and
5. Clearing is limited to the minimum necessary to complete the activity and the cleared areas are restored upon completion.
D. Fences. Fences are permitted within buffers; provided, that the following criteria are met:
1. Vegetation clearing necessary to install the fence shall be the minimum amount possible to install the fence using hand tools only;
2. Fences shall consist of open natural materials such as wood split rail or field fencing that allows for the unhindered movement of water and wildlife across the fence line, except that fences within existing improved yards may be composed of other materials; and
3. Applicable development approvals do not prohibit such installation. (Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.100 Enhancement and mitigation.
A. Subject to individual circumstances, potential mitigation measures for impact to fish and wildlife habitat may include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Enhancement, restoration or replacement of vegetation or other habitat features and functions. In riparian areas, this may include buffer averaging as specified in the Chapter 18.260 BGMC, General Provisions;
2. Exploring alternative on-site locations to avoid or reduce impacts of activities;
3. Preservation of important vegetation and natural habitat features through establishment of buffers or other limitations on clearing or alteration;
4. Managing the access to habitat areas;
5. Seasonal restriction on construction activities;
6. Implementation of best management practices;
7. Monitoring or review of impacts and taking appropriate action in response to findings;
8. Establishment of performance measures or bonding; and
9. Establishment of conservation covenants.
B. Battle Ground shall approve with conditions or, if necessary, deny proposals based on compliance with the basic criteria and the adequacy of mitigation measures to ensure compliance and applicable reasonable use assurances of Chapter 18.260 BGMC, General Provisions. Battle Ground shall retain final authority for such determinations, which shall be issued consistent with the review timelines of Chapter 18.260 BGMC, General Provisions, and shall be based on best scientific information and analysis available within those timelines. Battle Ground may consult with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and may substantially follow resulting recommendations of the DFW, unless alternative determinations are supported by scientific analysis. (Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)
18.280.110 Locally important habitat designation procedure.
A. The designation of locally important habitat may occur once per year during the comprehensive plan amendment process. The director shall accept nominations at any time throughout the year and make recommendations to the planning commission on its suitability of designation.
B. Nominations for locally important habitat shall be accompanied by detailed information on the location, features, functions and values of the habitat and the reasons why it is important and deserves protection. Detailed mapping of the habitat area and its features shall accompany the request.
C. All property owners of land subject to a nomination shall be notified and given an opportunity to comment on the request.
D. In considering the designation of locally important habitat, the city shall utilize the following criteria:
1. The area contains unusual or unique habitat warranting protection because of qualitative species diversity or habitat system health indicators;
2. The habitat is rare within the city and surrounding region or represents the highest quality of available habitat;
3. Existing development regulations will not adequately protect the habitat.
E. The designation of a locally important habitat shall include buffer of adequate width based on the needs of the habitat and species present.
F. The director shall maintain a map of the designated locally important habitat. (Ord. 04-025 § 5 (part), 2004)