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Public access includes the ability of the general public to reach, touch, and enjoy the water’s edge, to travel on the waters of the State, and to view the water and the shoreline from adjacent locations. There are a variety of types of potential public access, including picnic areas, pathways and trails, promenades, bridges, street ends, ingress and egress, parking and others.

(1) Public access shall be required in the following circumstances:

(a) Public access shall be required for all shoreline development and uses, except for water-dependent uses and single-family residences not part of a development planned for more than four parcels.

(b) Subdivisions of land into more than four parcels shall include dedication and improvement of public access.

(c) Public entities, including the City of Covington, shall be required to incorporate public access measures as part of each public shoreline development project, unless access is incompatible with safety, security, or environmental protection.

(2) Where public access is required under subsection (1) of this section, a payment in lieu of providing public access shall be permitted in accordance with RCW 82.02.020 (relating to fees associated with development); provided, that both of the following conditions are met:

(a) The applicant demonstrates, and the City determines, that one or more of the following circumstances applies:

(i) Unavoidable health or safety hazards to the public exist which cannot be prevented by any practical means; or

(ii) Inherent security requirements of the proposed development or use cannot be satisfied through the application of alternative design features or other solutions; or

(iii) The cost of providing the access, easement, or an alternative amenity is unreasonably disproportionate to the total long-term cost of the proposed development; or

(iv) Unacceptable environmental harm such as damage to fish spawning areas will result from the public access that cannot be mitigated; or

(v) Significant undue and unavoidable conflict between the proposed access and adjacent use would occur and not be mitigated; and

(b) The applicant demonstrates, and the City determines, that all reasonable alternatives have been exhausted, including but not limited to:

(i) Regulating access by such means as limiting hours of use to daylight hours;

(ii) Designing separation of uses and activities, with such means as fences, terracing, hedges, and landscaping;

(iii) Providing access that is physically separated from the proposal, such as a nearby street end, an off-site viewpoint, or a trail system.

(3) Where public access is required, the following provisions apply:

(a) Public access sites shall be connected directly to the nearest public street if possible.

(b) Public access sites shall be made barrier-free for the physically disabled where feasible.

(c) Physical public access shall be designed to prevent significant impacts to sensitive natural systems. Where impacts to shoreline ecological functions cannot be avoided, mitigation shall be required to meet the no net loss standard.

(d) Public access sites shall utilize environmentally friendly materials and technologies in such things as building materials, porous pavement, site preparation, drainage, and landscaping to the extent feasible.

(e) Where public access is to be provided by a trail, it shall be subject to the following provisions:

(i) The trail shall be located and designed using best management practices.

(ii) Where feasible, the trail shall be placed on the furthest landward edge of the shoreline buffer or within the outer 25 percent of the standard critical area buffer, whichever is greater.

(iii) Landscaping shall be composed of native, drought-tolerant, and site-appropriate vegetation to the extent feasible.

(iv) Trails shall avoid the removal of mature trees and limit disturbance of native understory vegetation.

(v) The City may require that other specific conditions, as determined by the City, be described in a trail plan.

(f) Required public access sites shall be fully developed and available for public use at the time of occupancy or use of the development or activity.

(g) Public access easements and permit conditions shall be recorded on the deed where applicable or on the face of a plat or short plat as a condition running in perpetuity with the land. Recording with the King County Department of Records shall occur at the time of permit approval (RCW 58.17.110; relating to subdivision approval or disapproval).

(h) The standard State-approved logo and other approved signs that indicate the public’s right of access and hours of access shall be constructed, installed, and maintained by the applicant in conspicuous locations at public access sites. In accordance with subsection (1)(a) of this section, signs controlling or restricting public access may be approved as a condition of permit approval.

(i) Future actions by the applicant or other parties shall not diminish the usefulness or value of the public access site.

(4) Developments, uses, and activities shall be designed and operated to avoid blocking, reducing, or adversely interfering with the public’s visual or physical access to the water and the shorelines. In providing visual access to the shoreline, the natural vegetation shall not be excessively removed either by clearing or by topping. (Ord. 09-19 § 6 (Exh. C))