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environmentally sensitive areas. If you are interested' in <br /> developing property identified as containing or adjacent to steep <br /> slopes, lakes, streams, wetlands, springs, erosion hazard areas, <br /> landslide hazard areas, seismic hazard areas, or other unstable <br /> soils conditions, you should read this Ordinance. This Ordinance <br /> contains more stringent requirements than other provisions within <br /> Title 19 of the Everett Municipal Code for affected properties. <br /> These regulations supersede any less restrictive requirements <br /> contained elsewhere in Title 19. No action may be undertaken by any <br /> person which results in any alteration of an environmentally <br /> sensitive area unless such alteration is in compliance with the <br /> requirements of this Ordinance. Alteration includes the terms "use" <br /> and "development" as defined in Title 19, Everett Municipal Code and <br /> includes any modification of the natural environment of <br /> environmentally sensitive areas including any grading, filling <br /> and/or excavation. Certain exceptions to the requirements of this <br /> Ordinance are listed in Section 5. <br /> Section 2: Purpose. Erosion, flood, landslide, and seismic hazard <br /> areas, streams, wetlands, protective buffers, and wildlife habitat <br /> areas constitute environmentally sensitive areas that are of special <br /> concern to the City of Everett. The purpose of this Ordinance is to <br /> protect the environmentally sensitive areas of the Everett community <br /> by establishing standards for development of properties which <br /> contain or adjoin environmentally sensitive areas and thus protect <br /> the public health, safety, and welfare by: <br /> A. Preserving, protecting, and restoring environmentally <br /> sensitive areas by regulating development within such areas <br /> and their buffers; <br /> B. Mitigating unavoidable adverse impacts by regulating <br /> alterations, when protection cannot be required; <br /> C. Protecting the public from personal injury, loss of life or <br /> property damage due to flooding, erosion, landslides, <br /> seismic events,or soil subsidence; <br /> D. Avoiding publicly financed expenditures to correct misuses <br /> of environmentally sensitive areas, which may cause: <br /> 1. Unnecessary maintenance and replacement of public <br /> facilities; <br /> 2. Publicly funded mitigation of avoidable impacts; <br /> 3 . Public costs for emergency rescue and relief operations <br /> where the causes are avoidable; or <br /> 4. Degradation of the natural environment; <br /> E. Protecting and enhancing unique, sensitive, and valuable <br /> elements of the environment, including fish and wildlife <br /> habitat; <br /> F. Alerting appraisers, assessors, owners, potential buyers or <br /> lessees to the presence of environmentally sensitive areas <br /> and the respective development limitations of such areas; <br /> 2 <br />