22.80.080 Protection and mitigation measures

22.80.080 Protection and mitigation measures.

The city of Monroe will use the following methods and mechanisms to accomplish the purposes of the critical areas regulations. This section shall be applied to all approved development applications and alterations when action is taken to implement the proposed action.

A. Native Growth Protection Easements. A native growth protection easement (NGPE) is an easement granted to the city for the protection of a critical area and/or its associated buffer. NGPEs shall be required as specified in these rules and shall be recorded on all subdivisions, short subdivisions, and final development permits and all documents of title and with the county recorder at the applicant’s expense. The required language is as follows:

Dedication of a Native Growth Protection Easement (NGPE) conveys to the public a beneficial interest in the land within the easement. This interest includes the preservation of existing vegetation for all purposes that benefit the public health, safety and welfare, including control of surface water and erosion, maintenance of slope stability, visual and aural buffering, and protection of plant and animal habitat. The NGPE imposes upon all present and future owners and occupiers of land subject to the easement the obligation, enforceable on behalf of the public of the city of Monroe, to leave undisturbed all trees and other vegetation within the easement. The vegetation in the easement may not be cut, pruned, covered by fill, removed, or damaged without express permission from the city of Monroe, which permission must be obtained in writing.

Before beginning and during the course of any grading, building construction or other development activity on a lot or development site subject to the NGPE, the common boundary between the easement and the area of development activity must be fenced or otherwise marked to the satisfaction of the city of Monroe.

B. Critical Area Tracts. Critical area tracts are legally created nonbuilding lots containing critical areas and their buffers that shall remain undeveloped pursuant to the critical areas regulations. Separate critical area tracts are an integral part of the lot in which they are created; are not intended for sale, lease or transfer; and shall be incorporated in the area of the parent lot for purposes of subdivision and method of allocation and minimum lot size. The following development proposals shall identify such areas as separate tracts:

1. Subdivisions.

2. Short subdivisions.

Responsibility for maintaining tracts shall be held by a homeowner’s association, adjacent lot owners, the permit applicant or designee, or other appropriate entity as approved by the city of Monroe.

The following note shall appear on the face of all subdivisions and short subdivisions and shall be recorded on the title for all affected lots:

NOTE: All lots adjoining separate tracts identified as Native Growth Protection Easements are jointly and severally responsible for the maintenance and protection of the tracts. Maintenance includes ensuring that no alteration occurs within the separate tracts and that vegetation remains undisturbed unless the express written permission of the city of Monroe has been received.

C. Building Setback Line (BSBL). Unless otherwise specified, a minimum BSBL of ten feet is required from the edge of any separate tract, buffer or NGPE, whichever is greatest.

1. Temporary Markers. The outer perimeter of the wetland or buffer and the limits of those areas to be disturbed pursuant to an approved permit or authorization shall be marked in the field so no unauthorized intrusion will occur and is subject to inspection by the zoning administrator or their designee prior to the commencement of permitted activities. This temporary marking shall be maintained throughout construction and shall not be removed until directed by the zoning administrator, or until permanent signs and/or fencing, if required, are in place.

2. Permanent Marking and/or Fencing. Following the implementation of an approved development plan or alteration, the outer perimeter of the critical area or buffer that is not disturbed shall be permanently identified. This identification shall include permanent wood or metal signs on treated wood or metal posts. Signs shall be worded as follows:

Protection of this natural area is in your care.

Alteration or disturbance is prohibited. Please call the city of Monroe for more information.

The city shall approve sign locations during review of the development proposal. Along residential boundaries, the signs shall be at least four by six inches in size and spaced one per lot or every one hundred fifty feet for lots whose boundaries exceed one hundred fifty feet. At road endings, crossings, and other areas where public access to the critical area is allowed, the sign shall be a minimum of eighteen by twenty-four inches in size and spaced one every one hundred fifty feet.

Domestic grazing animals shall be excluded from stream, wetlands, and associated buffers by permanent fencing when necessary unless otherwise approved by the city.

The fencing may provide limited access to the stream or wetland for stock watering purposes, but shall minimize bank disturbance.

The city may require permanent fencing where there is a substantial likelihood of the presence of domestic grazing animals with the development proposal. The city shall also require such fencing when, subsequent to approval of the development proposal, domestic grazing animals are in fact introduced. The city may use any appropriate enforcement actions including, but not limited to, fines, abatement, or permit denial to ensure compliance.

E. Monitoring. The city will require monitoring in development proposals where alteration of critical areas or their buffers are approved. Such monitoring shall be an element of the required mitigation plan and shall document and track impacts of development on the functions and values of critical areas, and the success and failure of mitigation requirements. Monitoring may include, but is not limited to:

1. Establishing vegetation transects or plots to track changes in plant species composition over time;

2. Using aerial or other photography to evaluate vegetation community response;

3. Sampling surface waters and groundwaters to determine pollutant loading;

4. Measuring base flow rates and storm water runoff to model and evaluate water quantity predictions;

5. Measuring sedimentation rates; and

6. Sampling fish and wildlife populations to determine habitat utilization, species abundance, and diversity.

The property owner will be required to submit monitoring data and reports to the city on an annual basis or other schedule as required by the zoning administrator. Monitoring shall continue for a period of five years or for a period necessary to establish that the mitigation performance standards have been met.

When monitoring reveals a significant deviation from predicted impacts or a failure of mitigation measures, the applicant shall be responsible for appropriate corrective action. Contingency plans developed as part of the original mitigation plan shall apply, but may be modified to address a specific deviation or failure. Contingency plan measures shall be subject to the monitoring requirement to the same extent as the original mitigation measures.

As a condition of approval for any project for which monitoring is required pursuant to this section, the applicant shall be required to record the monitoring requirements on a form approved by the city of Monroe so that subsequent purchasers of the property subject to the monitoring requirements are bound by and aware of the requirements.

1. In order to inform subsequent purchasers of real property of the existence of critical areas, the owner of any real property containing a critical area or buffer on which a development proposal is submitted shall file a notice with the recordings division of Snohomish County. The notice shall state the presence of the critical area or buffer on the property, of the application of this title to the property, and the fact that limitations on actions in or affecting the critical area or buffer may exist. The notice shall run with the property.

2. This notice on title shall not be required for a development proposal by a public agency or public or private utility:

a. Within a recorded easement or right-of-way;

b. Where the agency or utility has been adjudicated the right to an easement or right-of-way; or

c. On the site of a permanent public facility.

3. The applicant shall submit proof that the notice has been filed for public record before the city of Monroe approves any development proposal for the property or, in the case of subdivisions and short subdivisions, at or before recording.

G. Fees. The applicant is responsible for the initiation, preparation, submission, and expense of all required reports, assessment(s), studies, plans, reconnaissance(s), peer review by qualified consultants, and other work prepared in support of, or necessary for, the city of Monroe critical areas review processing.

H. Performance Standards. Subdivisions and short subdivisions of land in critical areas and associated buffers are subject to the following:

1. Land that is wholly within a critical area or associated buffer may not be subdivided.

2. Land that is partially within a critical area or associated buffer area may be subdivided; provided, that an accessible and contiguous portion of each new lot is:

a. Located outside the critical area and buffer; and

b. Large enough to accommodate the intended use.

3. Accessory roads and utilities serving the proposed subdivision may be permitted within the critical area and associated buffer only if the zoning administrator determines that no other feasible alternative exists and when consistent with this chapter.

1. An owner of property containing a critical area may be permitted to transfer the density attributed to the critical area to another, not containing a critical area(s) or its buffer, portion of the same site or property, subject to the limitations of this section.

2. Up to one hundred percent of the density that could be achieved on the critical area and buffer portion of the site can be transferred to a portion of the site not containing a critical area, subject to:

a. The density limitation of the underlying zoning classification;

b. The minimum lot size of the underlying zoning classification may be reduced by thirty percent in order to accommodate the transfer in densities;

c. All other applicable standards established in this title, including, but not limited to, zoning lot area, lot coverage, and setback requirements, shall be met; and

d. The area to which density is transferred shall not be constrained by other critical areas regulation. (Ord. 005/2019 § 10 (Exh. B))