18.65.135 Off-site mitigation.
(1) To the maximum extent practical, an applicant shall mitigate adverse impacts to a wetland, stream, wildlife habitat conservation area or wildlife habitat network on or contiguous to the development site. The Director may approve mitigation that is off the development site, at the Director’s sole discretion, if an applicant demonstrates that:
(a) It is not practical to mitigate on or contiguous to the development proposal site; and
(b) The off-site mitigation will achieve equivalent or greater hydrological, water quality and wetland or stream habitat functions.
(2) When off-site mitigation is authorized, the Director shall give priority to locations identified through a watershed assessment, preferably within the same drainage sub-basin as the development proposal site, that meet the following:
(a) Certified mitigation banks whose service areas include the City of Covington;
(b) King County mitigation reserves in-lieu fee program mitigation sites; or
(c) Other public or nonprofit mitigation sites approved by the Interagency Review Team (IRT) as part of an in-lieu fee program that have been ranked in a process that has been supported by ecological assessments, including wetland and streams established as priorities for mitigation in City of Covington sub-basin plans or other WRIA No. 9 watershed plans.
(3) The Director may require documentation that the mitigation site has been permanently preserved from future development or alteration that would be inconsistent with the function of the mitigation. The documentation may include, but need not be limited to, a conservation easement or other agreement between the applicant and owner of the mitigation site. The City of Covington may enter into agreements or become a party to any easement or other agreement necessary to ensure that the site continues to exist in its mitigated condition.
(4) The City of Covington may develop a program to allow the payment of a fee in lieu of providing mitigation on a development site. Once approved by the IRT, the program should address:
(a) When the payment of a fee is allowed considering the availability of a site in geographic proximity with comparable hydrologic and biological functions and potential for future habitat fragmentation and degradation; and
(b) The use of the fees for mitigation on public or private sites that have been ranked according to ecological criteria. (Ord. 09-19 § 9 (Exh. D); Ord. 06-17 § 4 (Exh. B))