Olympia committee reviews a marina project along West Bay Drive

The Olympia Site Plan Review Committee reviewed a marina replacement project at 2100 West Bay Drive NW. The Committee outlined the need to address critical areas and other shoreline development standards.

The narrative submitted by applicant Neil Falkenburg stated that the existing commercial marina at the project site is outdated and utilizes unfriendly materials. The proposed project seeks to modernize the facilities by installing grating with a minimum of 69% open area on 100% of the piers and rams and 50% of the floats. The project will remove the existing covered moorage structures. The dock facilities will be modernized to meet the current environmental standards.

The project will replace solid decked piers, ramps, floats, and creosote-treated wood pilings.

The project site's float square footage is 51,944 square feet, with 45,136 square feet of covered moorage. The existing pier and rams are 1,296 square feet and 405 creosote-treated wood piling.

The proposed project will reduce the overall square footage to 49,891 square feet of grated floats and 1,552 square feet of grated piers and ramps. It will also replace the 405 creosote-treated pilings with 187 galvanized steel pilings. All covered moorage will be removed, reducing the overall square footage by 2,053 square feet.

Planning review

At Wednesday's committee meeting, city planner Lydia Moorehead said the applicant's proposal does not qualify as a repair and replacement project under the Shoreline Master Program (SMP).

To qualify for maintenance and repair exemption, Moorehead explained that the proposed project should be comparable to the original in size, shape, configuration, and location.

However, Moorehead noted the applicant's proposal does not meet this criteria, as the project involves an expansion in the southeast corner and a different configuration. Therefore, the project does not qualify for the exemption.

The project must proceed under a shoreline conditional use permit process that requires a public hearing. After the public hearing, the hearing examiner would recommend the permit to the Department of Ecology, which would then make the final decision.

Moorehead noted the site has some critical area constraints, such as a stream located to the north of the site. The site also appears to have some potential steep slopes on the west side. "Whenever there are critical areas within 300 feet of a site, the city wants the applicant to review those areas."

In addition, the site contains habitat areas that the applicant needs to address, such as habitat related to forage fish, habitat for coho salmon, pre-nesting areas for great blue heron, and aquatic habitat.

"You will need a habitat management plan that analyzes any impacts to these habitat areas, and then covers any potential mitigation measures," the city planner said.

Needs for permitting

According to Moorehead, the proposed marina project will need to demonstrate compliance with various sections of the SMP, including:

Conditional use permit criteria

• No net-loss mitigation criteria
• Requirements related to cultural resources
• Public access standards (the site had a previous public access plan from 1985. The applicant was advised to review the same).
• Specific standards for boating facilities, marinas, docks, and piers

The proposed marina project's review process would require a Shoreline conditional use permit and the completion of a State Environment Policy Act (SEPA) checklist.

The city planner added that the application process includes a public information meeting, a public hearing, and a recommendation from the hearing examiner to the Department of Ecology. The applicant obtains the necessary development permits after the conditional use permit is approved.