Grays Harbor County Shoreline Master Program Update Public Outreach Program

How should the Grays Harbor County manage marine resource areas through its Shoreline Master Program?  Come share your ideas about this important topic at an upcoming public workshop on Thursday, February 19, 2015, 6:30 PM, at the Montesano City Hall Banquet Room, 112 N. Main Street, in Montesano. 

Marine resource areas in Grays Harbor County include the estuary and ocean environments.  These environments support a rich natural ecosystem that plays a vital role in our local economy and cultural heritage.  State law requires local Shoreline Master Programs to manage future uses and structures in the marine environment in a manner consistent with the Shoreline Management Act.
The workshop will begin with a brief overview about state requirements for addressing marine resources through the Shoreline Master Program.  The workshop will then focus on a facilitated discussion for citizens to share their ideas and concerns about marine resources management.  The ideas and concerns collected at this workshop will help guide the Grays Harbor County Shoreline Planning Committee in updating your Shoreline Master Program.

While these workshops will focus only on those shorelines that are outside of the cities in the county, the county invites all Grays Harbor citizens who own property, live, recreate, or work along these shorelines to attend this workshop.

The Shoreline Master Program plans for future development activities in the water and 200 feet upland from shorelines along ocean beaches, sections of rivers and streams with a mean annual flow 20 cubic per second or greater, lakes 20 acres or greater, and wetlands associated with these waterbodies.

The county’s Shoreline Planning Committee is a group of citizen volunteers appointed by the Board of Commissioners who have the responsibility to draft an updated Shoreline Master Program for county consideration.

To find out more information about the county’s Shoreline Master Program and the update
process, go to the project website at www.ghcsmp.org.  Citizens who have questions about the upcoming workshops or the update