Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Technical Memorandum (continued) <br />WWU Shannon Point Shoreline Restoration Project <br />Regulatory Compliance Assessment <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />May 2021 <br />As a shoreline restoration measure, WWU is proposing to remove a derelict concrete plank boat launch that covers approximately 2,540 square feet (0.06 acre) of the upper intertidal zone of Rosario Strait at the Shannon Point Marine Laboratory (Photo 2). The project also includes reseating the marine lab’s existing in-take/outfall piping infrastructure that has become partially exposed due to coastal erosion. Other decommissioned pipes and debris will also be removed from the site. A native scrub-shrub vegetated shoreline buffer enhancement area <br />(114 square feet) and a pedestrian beach access trail (3-feet minimum width) to retain public access to the marine shoreline will be installed near the upper extents of the beach. The project site plans are included as Attachment A for reference. WWU has an existing aquatic lease agreement with the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) which delineates the location of lab’s <br />piping infrastructure within the Strait (Attachment B). <br />Rosario Strait is a Designated Shoreline of the State (Type S) Water, subject to regulation according to the City’s Shoreline Master Program (Section 18.16 of Anacortes Municipal Code <br />[AMC]). The City’s shoreline designations for the project site are Natural and Conservancy (City of Anacortes, 2010a). Chapter 2.4.E.2 of the City’s Shoreline Master Program identifies the normal maintenance or repair of existing structures or developments to prevent a decline, lapse or cessation from a lawfully established condition as not considered as substantial development for the purposes of the program (City of Anacortes, 2010b). Shoreline habitat and natural systems enhancement projects are a permitted use within the shoreline designation for the site. The property is zoned for Public Use (City of Anacortes, 2019). <br />City regulated critical areas that are applicable to the project site include: frequently flooded areas (Article II Section 17.70.020-060 AMC) and the fish and wildlife conservation areas: with which state or federally designated endangered, threatened, and sensitive species have a primary association and surf smelt spawning areas (Article VI Section 17.70.540 AMC). <br />Spawning habitat for surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus), an important forage fish that spawns year-round within the intertidal area of beaches with a specific mixture of coarse sand and pea gravel is mapped by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) in association with the Shannon Point shoreline. (Arc GIS, 2019). Forge fish spawning habitat for Pacific sand lance (Ammadytes <br />hexapterus), which typically spawn between November and February on finer sand substrates, and <br />Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), which deposit transparent adhesive eggs on inter-tidal and shallow <br />sub-tidal eelgrass and marine algae typically from January 1 to mid-April, is not mapped by WDFW <br />in association with the project area. Due to the existing concrete planks covering much of the upper <br />intertidal zone, existing forage fish spawning habitat at the project site is considered to limited; <br />Photo 2. Derelict concrete plank boat ramp <br /> (Herrera, Sept. 30, 2019)