Laserfiche WebLink
EVERETT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN <br />Policy 2.15.7 Habitat areas. Because the ravine and steep slope areas provide valuable habitat <br />for wildlife, the City should preserve these habitat areas. These areas also provide wildlife <br />corridors and may provide connections with other critical areas with important habitat functions <br />such as streams, shorelines, wetlands and forest areas. The City should map and protect existing <br />open space and wildlife corridors and provide incentives to, where feasible, restore and/or <br />improve connections within and between corridors which could result in substantial <br />improvement in habitat function. <br />Policy 2.15.8 Clearing. Because land modification that is commenced without any specific <br />development proposal in mind can result in greater modification than necessary for development <br />purposes, unnecessarily impact and alter critical areas and their buffers, expose areas to erosion <br />over a greater period of time, and reduce habitat areas, the City should allow clearing, grading <br />and land alteration on sites containing or abutting critical areas only for approved development <br />proposals. The City should establish seasonal limitations to clearing on or adjacent to critical <br />areas as necessary to protect and maintain critical area functions and values. Cleared and/or <br />graded areas should be stabilized and revegetated as soon after construction as practicable, and <br />on slopes, immediately after construction. <br />Policies for Water Resource Critical Areas <br />Policy 2.15.9 Preservation. Because alteration of natural water resource critical areas can <br />result in environmental degradation, increased costs to the public, flooding, erosion, <br />sedimentation, and damage to water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, Everett's natural water <br />resource critical areas should be protected, maintained and enhanced. <br />Policy 2.15.10 The City should encourage participation in landscape level planning efforts, <br />such as the Snohomish Estuary Wetland Integration Plan (SEWIP) and Salmon Overlay, and <br />subarea planning to manage aquatic resource critical areas at a watershed or subarea planning <br />level when such efforts will provide better overall preservation or protection of aquatic resources <br />within the watershed, basin, or subarea. <br />Policy 2.15.11 The City should continue to participate in regional watershed planning efforts <br />directed toward the protection and preservation of endangered species under the federal <br />Endangered Species Act, and the ESA's goal of delisting endangered species. <br />Policy 2.15.12 The City should provide for innovative land use development tools which <br />concentrate development on the areas of a site away from critical areas and their buffers to <br />maintain and preserve existing critical areas. <br />Policy 2.15.13 Protective Requirements. Because land use and development activities can <br />create adverse impacts upon the quality of streams, lakes, wetlands and ground water aquifers, <br />the City should adopt land use and development regulations that establish adequate protections to <br />water resource critical areas. <br />Policy 2.15.14 Because some types of ongoing activities, including normal and routine <br />maintenance activities could adversely affect water quality and fish habitat, the City should adopt <br />practices to control adverse effects. Land use and development regulations should include: <br />LAND USE ELEMENT 50 <br />