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line. For purposes of this section, significant vegetation means a healthy evergreen <br /> tree, ten inches in diameter or greater, measured 4.5 feet above existing grade. Except <br /> as otherwise provided by Section 37.050 of this chapter, the following minimum <br /> buffers of native vegetation shall apply to streams based upon category: <br /> 1. Category I Streams. Category I streams shall have a minimum buffer of one <br /> hundred feet on each side of the stream, except that properties under the <br /> jurisdiction of the shoreline master program which abut category I streams may <br /> have a minimum buffer of less than one hundred feet when shoreline public <br /> access improvements may otherwise be permitted or required during the <br /> shoreline permit review process; or when a water-dependent or water-related <br /> use which requires a lesser buffer standard is approved during the shoreline <br /> permit review process. <br /> 2. Category II Steams. Category II streams shall have a minimum buffer of fifty <br /> feet on each side of the stream. <br /> 3. Category III Streams. Category III streams shall have a minimum buffer of <br /> twenty-five feet. <br /> 4. Category IV Streams. Category IV streams shall have a minimum buffer of ten <br /> feet. <br /> B. Standard Buffer Width Increase: The city shall require increased buffer widths as <br /> necessary to protect streams when the stream is particularly sensitive to disturbance, or <br /> the development poses unusual impacts and the increased buffer width is necessary to <br /> protect the environmentally sensitive areas described in this subsection. Circumstances <br /> which may require buffers beyond minimum requirements include, but are not limited <br /> to the following: <br /> 1. The stream reach affected by the development proposal serves as critical fish <br /> habitat for spawning or rearing as determined by the city using information <br /> from resource agencies including, but not limited to, the Washington State <br /> Departments of Fisheries or Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and <br /> native tribes; <br /> 2. The stream or adjacent riparian corridor is used by species listed by the federal <br /> government or the state as endangered, threatened, rare, sensitive, or <br /> monitored, or provides critical or outstanding actual or potential habitat for <br /> those species, or has unusual nesting or resting sites such as heron rookeries or <br /> raptor nesting or lookout trees; <br /> 7 <br />