Community Government

City Council approves critical areas code updates

The Gig Harbor City Council unanimously approved updates to the city’s critical areas code at its meeting on Monday, June 22.

The code protects environmentally sensitive areas, including wetlands, streams, and fish and wildlife habitats. The city has been working to update it since the state mandated that jurisdictions overhaul their critical areas protections laws. The city is also updating its housing regulations.

The updates include increases in buffer zones around wetlands and affect 380 acres of developable land. Community Development Director Eric Baker said this does not mean that those 380 acres are not developable. It just means that people will have to seek variances or reasonable-use exceptions.

“Can you build exactly what your heart desires?” he said in a previous meeting on June 11. “Probably not.”

The city sought input from interested parties, including environmental groups, the Master Builders Association of Pierce County and people who live within 300 feet of a wetland or stream. Nobody offered comments during the council’s public hearing on the updates on Monday.