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STATE OF WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY
PO Box 47600 • Olympia, WA 98504-7600 •360-407-6000
711 for Washington Relay Service • Persons with a speech disability can call 877-833-6341
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October 17, 2014
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The Honorable Jack Louws JACK LOUWS
County Executive COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Whatcom County
311 Grand Avenue
Bellingham, WA 98225-4082
Re: Final Ecology Approval of Whatcom County Shoreline Master Program
Limited Amendment
Dear Executive Louws:
The Department of Ecology(Ecology) is pleased to announce final approval of the Whatcom County
(County) Shoreline Master Program(SMP) limited amendment. Congratulations to you,your staff, and
the Whatcom County community for completing this limited amendment. We know this has been a long
and challenging process. We appreciate your commitment to comprehensive land use planning for
Washington's unique and valuable shorelines.
As you know,the following correspondence regarding the SMP limited amendment took place between
Ecology and the County:
• June 24, 2009—Ecology accepted the County's locally adopted SMP limited amendment as
complete for purposes of review(Resolution No. 2009-020).
• May 6, 2014—Ecology conditionally approved the County's SMP limited amendment with
specific required and recommended changes.
• October 8, 2014—The County sent a letter to Ecology agreeing to all of Ecology's
required and all but one recommended change.
Ecology therefore approves the County's SMP limited amendment,which includes the agreed to required
and recommended changes. This action represents Ecology's final decision and there shall be no further
modifications to the County's proposal.
The effective date of the County's SMP limited amendment is fourteen days from the date of this
letter. This fourteen-day period was established by legislative action in 2011 and is intended to provide
lead time for the County to prepare to implement the new SMP.
The Honorable Jack Louws
October 17, 2014
Page 2
Ecology is required to promptly publish notice that the County's SMP limited amendment has received final
approval. The notice,in the form of a legal ad,will begin a 60-day appeal period. We will provide a copy of
the legal ad to the County for its records.
Finally,please integrate the changes referenced in this correspondence into the County's SMP. When this is
complete,please forward one clean hard copy and one digital copy of the complete approved SMP to
Ecology.
Thank you again for your significant work and leadership in completing this SMP limited amendment. If you
have any questions,please contact our regional planner,Chad Yunge,at Chad.Yunge @ecy.wa.gov_/(360)
715-5206.
Sincerely,
Tim Gates
Shoreline Planning&Policy Lead
By Certified Mail [7012 1010 0003 3028 3683]
cc: Mark Personius,Whatcom County
Erik Stockdale,Ecology
Chad Yunge,Ecology