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Section XB: Environmentally Sensitive Areas <br /> 1. The Responsible Official shall develop an inventory of <br /> environmentally sensitive sites, which shall be designated <br /> under the Standards of WAC 197-11-908. The following factors <br /> should be considered in selecting and designating <br /> environmentally sensitive sites: <br /> a. SEPA Resource Inventory Study <br /> b. Location of land - adjacent to parks, streams, bluffs, <br /> contiguous environmentally sensitive parcels, lakes and <br /> bogs <br /> c. Contains steep slopes in ravine areas <br /> d. Contains drainage swales, bogs, streams or other surface <br /> water bodies <br /> e. Unstable or water bearing soils <br /> f. Unique flora and unique fauna <br /> g. Historic and archaeological sites <br /> In conjunction with the inventory of environmentally sensitive <br /> sites, the Responsible Official shall submit a list of <br /> categorical exemptions that do not apply within the designated <br /> environmentally sensitive areas. <br /> The inventory of environmentally sensitive sites and a map <br /> designating such areas along with a list of categorical <br /> exemptions that do not apply in such areas shall be presented <br /> to the Planning Commission which shall hold a public hearing on <br /> the proposed environmentally sensitive areas. The Planning <br /> Commission shall submit its recommendation to the City Council <br /> which shall adopt a map designating environmentally sensitive <br /> areas. <br /> After final adoption by the City Council, the Responsible <br /> Official shall file maps designation environmentally sensitive <br /> areas, together with the exemptions from the list in WAC <br /> 197-11-908 that are inapplicable in such areas, with the City <br /> Clerk and the Department of Ecology, Headquarters Office, <br /> Olympia, Washington. The environmentally sensitive area <br /> designations shall have full force and effect of law as of the <br /> date of filing. <br /> Revisions to the inventory, designation, and map's <br /> environmentally sensitive areas shall be accomplished using the <br /> procedures set forth in the section above. <br /> 2. The City shall treat proposals located wholly or partially <br /> within an environmentally sensitive area no differently than <br /> other proposals under this ordinance, making a threshold <br /> determination for all such proposals. The City shall not <br /> automatically require an EIS for a proposal merely because it <br /> is proposed for location in an environmentally sensitive area. <br /> 3. Certain exemptions do not apply on lands covered by water, and <br /> this remains true regardless of whether or not lands covered by <br /> water are mapped. <br /> -25- <br />