The possibility of a new pathway at Lake Meridian resulted in the Kent Land Use and Planning Board voting down an update to the city’s Shoreline Master Program.
The board, made up of seven city residents appointed by the mayor, voted 4-3 July 27 against the recommendation by city staff to adopt the update. In so doing, the board sent that draft plan back to city staff, to revise the section about public access.
The board will consider the updated plan again in a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 10 at City Hall. The meeting includes a public hearing, so all Kent residents are invited to speak their piece about the document.
If adopted by the board, the plan still has additional channels through which it must pass: the City Council’s Planning and Economic Development Committee Aug. 24, and then the full Council, on either Sept. 1 or Sept. 15.
Land Use and Planning Board members Steve Dowell, Barbara Phillips, Dana Ralph and Jack Ottini all voted against the update July 27 because of a section on public access that could require a public trail about 20 feet wide from the street to the lake, if the owners of undeveloped property on the north end of the lake decide they want to build four or more homes there.
“I wouldn’t want a 20-foot strip open to the public if it were along my property,” Ralph said.
Board members Jon Johnson, Alan Gray and Aleanna Kondelis voted in favor of the updated shoreline plan.
“We are taking a look at the requirements for public access and the board’s issues,” said Planning Manager Charlene Anderson in a phone interview Thursday. “We’re trying to come up with options for their consideration.”
In Kent, the Shoreline Master Program applies to management of the shoreline along the Green River, Lake Meridian, Big Soos Creek, Lake Fenwick, the Green River Natural Resources Area and portions of Springbrook and Jenkins creeks. Shoreline jurisdiction extends 200 feet landward of these bodies of water.
Kent resident Paul Morford testified against the plan update at the board’s July 27 meeting.
“We already have public access at Lake Meridian Park,” said Morford, who does not own property at Lake Meridian, but who is concerned about the rights of property owners. “I don’t think people who have undeveloped property should have to give up property for public access.”
Ottini, who voted against adoption of the plan, said that putting in a public-access trail could lead to “late-night parties” down by the lake.
City officials are required to by the state to update the Shoreline Master Program by the end of this year.
The Shoreline Master Program addresses policies and regulations aimed to protect shorelines while allowing for water-oriented activities, access and development.
On July 27, city planners addressed a concern in the shoreline plan brought up last month at a City Council workshop about expanding the number of docks used at Lake Meridian for the annual fireworks show.
City staff discovered through conversations with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife that up to eight new swim platforms or docks could be added at the lake.
The Kent Land Use and Planning Board will consider the Shoreline Master Program 7 p.m. Aug. 10 at City Hall. The meeting includes a public hearing, so all Kent residents are invited to speak their piece about the document.For more information and documents about the Shoreline Master Program, go to www.ci.kent.wa.us/planning. Click on Shoreline Master Program update. Or call the city planning services department at 253-856-5454.
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