“Adjacent”
means any development proposal which includes a critical area or its buffer or any development proposal within 100 feet of a critical area.
(Ord. 342 § 100.1, 1992)
“Agriculture”
means land primarily devoted to the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, vegetable or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, or livestock. Agriculture shall also include the raising, harvesting and processing of fish and shellfish, which is also known as aquaculture.
(Ord. 342 § 100.3, 1992)
“Alteration”
means a human-induced action which changes the existing condition of a critical area. Alterations include but are not limited to grading; dredging; channelizing; cutting, clearing, relocating or removing vegetation; applying herbicides or pesticides or any hazardous or toxic substance; discharging pollutants; grazing domestic animals; modifying for surface water management purposes; or any other human activity that changes the existing vegetation, hydrology, wildlife or wildlife habitat.
(Ord. 342 § 100.4, 1992)
“Applicant”
means any person or business entity such as a corporation or a partnership which applies for a development proposal, permit or approval subject to review under this chapter. Applicant shall also mean any predecessor or any successor in interest involving the same or fundamentally the same individuals or entities.
(Ord. 342 § 100.5, 1992)
“Aquifer”
means a saturated body of rock, sand, gravel or other geologic material that is capable of storing, transmitting, and yielding a sufficient quantity of water to a well.
(Ord. 342 § 100.6, 1992)
“Aquifer recharge” or “aquifer recharge area”
means the process by which water is added to an aquifer. It may occur naturally by the percolation (infiltration) of surface water, precipitation, or snowmelt from the ground surface to a depth where the earth materials are saturated with water. Aquifer recharge can be augmented by “artificial” means through the addition of surface water (e.g., land application of wastewater or stormwater) or by the injection of water into the underground environment (e.g., drainfields and drywells). Aquifer recharge areas are those areas overlying the aquifer(s) where natural or artificial sources of water can move downward to an aquifer(s). Most areas are aquifer recharge areas.
(Ord. 342 § 100.7, 1992)
“Best management practices”
means conservation practices or systems of practices and management measures that:
(1) 
Control soil loss and reduce water quality degradation caused by nutrients, bacteria, toxic substances, pesticides, oil and grease, and sediment; and
(2) 
Minimize adverse impacts to surface water and ground water flow, circulation patterns, and to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of critical areas.
(Ord. 342 § 100.10, 1992)
“Biologist”
means a person who has a minimum of a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences or related field from an accredited college or university and/or has four or more years’ experience as a practicing biologist.
(Ord. 342 § 100.11, 1992)
“Buffer”
means an area which provides the margin of safety through protection of bank and slope stability, attenuation of surface water flows and landslide hazards reasonably necessary to minimize risk to the public from loss of life or well-being or property damage resulting from natural disasters, or an area which is an integral part of a stream or wetland ecosystem and which provides shading, input of organic debris and sediments, room for variation in stream or wetland boundaries, habitat for wildlife and protection from harmful intrusion necessary to protect the public from losses suffered when the functions and values of aquatic resources are degraded.
(Ord. 342 § 100.12, 1992)
“Compensation”
means replacement of project-induced critical area (e.g., wetland) losses of acreage or functions and includes, but is not limited to, restoration, creation, or enhancement.
(Ord. 342 § 100.15, 1992)
“Critical facilities”
means a facility for which even a slight chance of flooding or destruction caused by a geologic hazard would be too great. They include but are not limited to schools, hospitals, police, fire, emergency response installation, nursing homes, installations which produce, use or store hazardous materials or hazardous waste, pipelines which transmit oil and gas, municipal water and sewer facilities, and regional transportation facilities, such as airports, ports, railroads and major highways.
(Ord. 342 § 100.19, 1992)
“Development” or “development proposal”
means any of the activities relating to the use and/or development of land, including but not limited to: building permit, industrial, commercial or residential; binding site plan; franchise right-of-way construction permit; master plan development; planned unit development or planned recreational community; right-of-way access permit; shoreline permit; conditional use permit; special use permit; subdivision; short subdivision; utility or on-site sewage permit; the removal, excavation, grading, clearing, or dredging of soil, sand, gravel, minerals, organic matter, or material of any kind; the dumping, discharging, or filling with any material; the draining, flooding, or disturbing of the water table; the driving of pilings or the placing of obstructions; planting of vegetation (e.g., introduction of nonnative species) that would alter the character of the critical area; activities that result in adverse changes in water temperature or physical or chemical characteristics of critical area water sources; or any subsequently adopted permit or required approval not expressly exempted by this chapter.
(Ord. 342 § 100.21, 1992)
“Easement” or “critical area protection easement”
means a limited protective easement granted to the city of Forks, or other organizations devoted to protection and management of the protected critical area, to enable the city of Forks to protect a critical area from use and development that is inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter. The easement must be duly recorded on appropriate documents and filed with the Clallam County auditor.
(Ord. 342 § 100.23, 1992)
“Education and scientific research”
means any education or scientific research activity unassociated with a development proposal regulated under this chapter; provided, that the removal of plant and soil samples through nonmechanical means is allowed for education or scientific study unrelated to any future development proposal of the affected area; provided further, that such removal is not prohibited by any federal, state or local regulations.
(Ord. 342 § 100.24, 1992)
“Enhancement”
means actions performed to improve the condition of existing degraded critical area (e.g., wetlands or streams) so that the functions they provide are of a higher quality.
(Ord. 342 § 100.25, 1992)
“Erosion”
means the process whereby the land surface is worn away by the action of water, wind, ice or other geologic agents and by processes such as gravitational creep or events such as landslides. Natural or geologic erosion occurs as an ongoing process that acts on all land surfaces to some degree. Human activities such as removing vegetation, increasing stormwater runoff or decreasing slope stability often accelerate or aggravate natural erosion processes.
(Ord. 342 § 100.26, 1992)
“Existing and ongoing agriculture”
includes those activities conducted on lands defined in RCW 84.34.020(2) or defined as agriculture in this chapter (see FMC § 14.20.015), for example, the operation and maintenance of farm and stock ponds or drainage ditches, operation and maintenance of ditches, irrigation systems including irrigation laterals, canals, or irrigation drainage ditches, changes between agricultural activities, and normal maintenance, repair, or operation of existing serviceable structures, facilities, or improved areas.
Activities which bring an area into agricultural use are not part of an ongoing operation. An operation ceases to be ongoing when the area on which it is conducted is proposed for conversion to a nonagricultural use or has lain idle for more than five years, unless the idle land is registered in a federal or state soil conservation program, or unless the activity is maintenance of irrigation ditches, laterals, canals, or drainage ditches related to an existing and ongoing agricultural activity.
(Ord. 342 § 100.28, 1992)
“Floodway”
means the channel of a stream, plus any adjacent floodplain areas, that must be kept free of encroachment in order that the base flood be carried without substantial increases in flood heights.
(Ord. 342 § 100.32, 1992)
“Forest practices”
as defined in WAC 222-16-010(21), as amended, means any activity conducted on or directly pertaining to forest land and relating to growing, harvesting, or processing timber, including but not limited to:
(1) 
Road and trail construction;
(2) 
Harvesting, final and intermediate;
(3) 
Precommercial thinning;
(4) 
Reforestation;
(5) 
Fertilization;
(6) 
Prevention and suppression of diseases and insects;
(7) 
Salvage of trees; and
(8) 
Brush control.
Forest practices shall not include preparatory work such as tree marking, surveying and road flagging, or removal or harvest of incidental vegetation from forest lands such as berries, ferns, greenery, mistletoe, herbs, mushrooms, and other products which cannot normally be expected to result in damage to forest soils, timber or public resources.
(Ord. 342 § 100.34, 1992)
“Frequently flooded areas”
means all city of Forks lands, shorelands and waters which are identified as within the 100-year floodplain (floodway and special flood hazard area) in the Federal Management Agency report titled “The Flood Insurance Study for Clallam County” dated December 5, 1989, with accompanying flood insurance rate and boundary maps.
(Ord. 342 § 100.35, 1992)
“Geotechnical engineer”
means a practicing, geotechnical/civil engineer licensed and bonded as a professional civil engineer with the state of Washington or a soil scientist certified by the American Society of Soil Science with experience in landslide evaluation.
(Ord. 342 § 100.37, 1992)
“Grazed wet meadows”
means palustrine emergent wetlands, typically having standing water during the wet season and dominated under normal conditions by meadow emergents such as reed canary grass, spike rushes, softrushes, bulrushes, sedges, and rushes. During the growing season, the soil is often saturated or covered with water. Gazed wet meadows frequently have been or are being used for livestock grazing or cut for hay.
(Ord. 342 § 100.39, 1992)
“High intensity land use”
means those land uses which are associated with moderate or high levels of human disturbance or substantial habitat impacts including, but not limited to, residential densities greater than one unit per acre (gross density), active recreation, and commercial and industrial land uses.
(Ord. 342 § 100.41, 1992)
“Lake”
means a naturally existing or artificially created body of standing water greater than or equal to 20 acres in size. Lakes include reservoirs which exist on a year-round basis and occur in a depression of land or expanded part of a stream. A lake is bounded by the ordinary high water mark or the extension of the elevation of the lake’s ordinary high water mark within the stream, where the stream enters the lake. All lakes meet the criteria of Chapter 90.58 RCW (Shoreline Management Act) and have been inventoried as “shorelines of the state” under the shoreline master program for Clallam County.
(Ord. 342 § 100.42, 1992)
“Land divisions”
means any division of land, including short plats, subdivisions, mobile home and RV parks, and binding site plans regulated under the city of Forks short subdivision ordinance or state statute.
(Ord. 342 § 100.43, 1992)
“Landslide”
is the general term used to describe the downslope movement of a mass of slope materials including rock, soils, artificial fills, and vegetation. The speed and distance of movement, as well as the amount and type of slope material, vary greatly.
(Ord. 342 § 100.44, 1992)
“Low income housing”
means the selling price or rental price of a dwelling unit at an amount affordable to families earning no greater than 100 percent of the current median family income of the city of Forks at time of sale or rental. The current median family income means the standard set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
(Ord. 342 § 100.45, 1992)
“Low intensity land use”
means those land uses which are associated with low levels of human disturbance or low habitat impacts, including, but not limited to, passive recreation, open space, or agricultural or forest management land uses. For residential use, low intensity land use means densities less than one unit per acre.
(Ord. 342 § 100.46, 1992)
“Major new development”
means any new development of which the total cost or fair market value exceeds $5,000 except that the following shall not be considered major new development for the purpose of this chapter:
(1) 
Normal maintenance or repair of existing structures or developments, including damage by accident, fire, or elements;
(2) 
Emergency construction necessary to protect property from damage by the elements;
(3) 
Construction and practices normal or necessary for farming, irrigation, and ranching activities, including agricultural service roads and utilities, and the construction and maintenance of irrigation structures including but not limited to head gates, pumping facilities and irrigation channels; provided, that a feedlot of any size, all processing plants, other activities of a commercial nature, alteration of the contour of wetlands or streams by leveling or filling other than that which results from normal cultivation, shall not be considered normal or necessary farming or ranching activities;
(4) 
Construction of a single-family residence;
(5) 
The marking of property lines or corners; and
(6) 
Operation and maintenance of any system of dikes, ditches, drains, or other facilities existing prior to the date of adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter, which were created, developed, or utilized primarily as a part of an agricultural drainage or diking system.
(Ord. 342 § 100.47, 1992)
“Mineral extraction”
includes activities involved in the extraction of minerals from the earth for industrial, commercial, or construction uses, excluding water. For the purposes of this chapter, removal of solid materials from the earth is not deemed mineral extraction until the activity meets one of the following criteria:
(1) 
The extraction of peat shall be considered mineral extraction when extracted from regulated wetlands, regardless of size of the activity or wetland;
(2) 
Other mineral extraction activities shall collectively result in more than three acres of land being disturbed or that result in pit walls more than 30 feet high and steeper than one horizontal to one vertical. Farming, road construction, mineral exploration testing and site preparation for construction shall not be deemed mineral extraction activities.
(Ord. 342 § 100.48, 1992)
“Mitigation”
includes avoiding, minimizing or compensating for adverse critical area (e.g., wetland) impacts. Mitigation, in the following order of preference, is:
(1) 
Avoiding the impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action;
(2) 
Minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation, by using appropriate technology, or by taking affirmative steps to avoid or reduce impacts;
(3) 
Rectifying the impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the affected environment;
(4) 
Compensating for the impact by replacing, enhancing, or providing substitute resources or environments.
(Ord. 342 § 100.51, 1992)
“Monitoring”
means the collection and analysis of data by various methods for the purposes of understanding and documenting changes in natural ecosystems and features, and includes gathering baseline data, evaluating the impacts of development proposals on the biological, hydrologic and geologic elements of such systems and assessing the performance of required mitigation measures.
(Ord. 342 § 100.52, 1992)
“Native vegetation”
means vegetation which is indigenous to the North Olympic Peninsula, or if the site has been cleared, species of a size and type that were on the site on the effective date of this chapter or reasonably could have been expected to have been found on the site at that time.
(Ord. 342 § 100.53, 1992)
“Normal repair”
means to restore a development to a state comparable to its original conditions within a reasonable period after decay or partial destruction except where repair involves total replacement which is not common practice or causes substantial adverse effects to the critical area.
(Ord. 342 § 100.56, 1992)
“Open space”
means lands which are in a natural or undeveloped character because they have not been developed with structures, paving or other appurtenances. Open space lands can refer to parks; recreation areas; conservation easements; critical area buffers, tracts or commons; and agriculture, forestry or open space parcels which are enrolled in the Clallam County open space program under Chapter 84.34 RCW.
(Ord. 342 § 100.57, 1992)
“Ordinary high water mark”
means the mark on all lakes, streams and tidal waters which will be found by examining the beds and banks and ascertaining where the presence and action of waters are so common and usual, and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to mark upon the soil a character distinct from that of the abutting upland, in respect to vegetation as that conditions exists on June 1, 1971, as it may naturally change thereafter, or as it may change thereafter in accordance with permits issued by a local government or the department; provided, that in any area where the ordinary high water mark cannot be found the ordinary high water mark adjoining salt water shall be the line of mean higher high tide and the ordinary high water mark adjoining fresh water shall be the line of mean high water.
(Ord. 342 § 100.58, 1992)
“Pond”
means a naturally existing or artificially created body of standing water less than 20 acres in size and not defined as “shorelines of the state” by Chapter 90.58 RCW (Shoreline Management Act). Ponds can include reservoirs which exist on a year-round basis and occur in a depression of land or expanded part of a stream. A pond is bounded by the ordinary high water mark or the extension of the elevation of the pond’s ordinary high water mark within the stream, where the stream enters the pond.
(Ord. 342 § 100.63, 1992)
“Practicable alternative”
means an alternative that is available and capable of being carried out after taking into consideration cost, existing technology, and logistics in light of overall project purposes, and having less impacts to critical areas. It may include an area not owned by the applicant which could reasonably have been or be obtained, utilized, expanded, or managed in order to fulfill the basic purpose of the proposed activity.
(Ord. 342 § 100.64, 1992)
“Presettlement pond”
means any artificially constructed facility with the primary purpose to treat stormwater runoff for the purpose of removing sediments and/or other potential pollutants including, but not limited to, sediment ponds, wetponds, and detention/retention facilities.
(Ord. 342 § 100.65, 1992)
“Primary association,”
for the purposes of this chapter, means those habitats recognized by the federal government as being critical habitat for federal endangered, threatened, or sensitive species, or habitat for Washington State Species of Concern or Washington Department of Wildlife Priority Species recognized by the Washington Department of Wildlife or Washington Department of Fisheries.
(Ord. 342 § 100.66, 1992)
“Priority habitat”
means a seasonal range or habitat element with which a given species has a primary association, and which, if altered may reduce the likelihood that the species will maintain and reproduce over the long term. These might include areas of high relative density or species richness, breeding habitat, winter range, movement corridors, and/or habitats that are of limited availability or high vulnerability to alteration. Priority habitats are established by the Washington Department of Wildlife within their priority habitats and species data base.
(Ord. 342 § 100.67, 1992)
“Priority species”
means those wildlife species that are of concern to the Washington Department of Wildlife due to their population status and their sensitivity to habitat alteration. Priority species include those which are state-listed endangered, threatened, sensitive, candidate and monitor species as well as priority game species. Priority species are established by the Washington Department of Wildlife within their Priority Habitats and Species Data Base.
(Ord. 342 § 100.68, 1992)
“Public”
means any agency, political subdivision, or unit of local government of this state including but not limited to municipal corporations, special purpose districts, and local service districts, any agency of the state of Washington, the United States or any state thereof, or any Indian tribe recognized as such by the federal government.
(Ord. 342 § 100.69, 1992)
“Public facilities”
means buildings or uses of land, whether owned or leased, operated by a public agency for such purposes as providing places for public assembly and recreation, operating services of benefit to the public, or for the administration of public affairs.
(Ord. 342 § 100.70, 1992)
“Public use”
means any area, building or structure held, used, or controlled exclusively for public purposes by any department or branch of any government, without reference to the ownership of the building or structure or of the land upon which it is situated.
(Ord. 342 § 100.72, 1992)
“Public utility”
means a business or service, either governmental or having appropriate approval from the state, which is engaged in regularly supplying the public with sane commodity or service which is of public consequence and need such as electricity, gas, water, transportation or communications.
(Ord. 342 § 100.73, 1992)
“Ravine”
means a V- or U-shaped landform (e.g., gorge or gully) generally having little to no floodplain and normally containing steep slopes and deeper than 10 vertical feet as measured from the centerline of the ravine to the top of the slope. Ravines are created by the wearing action of streams.
(Ord. 342 § 100.74, 1992)
“Reasonable alternative”
means an activity that could feasibly attain or approximate a proposal’s objectives, but at a lower environmental cost or decreased level of environmental degradation. Reasonable alternatives may be those over which the regulatory authority has authority to control impacts.
(Ord. 342 § 100.75, 1992)
“Restoration”
means the return of a critical area (e.g., stream or wetland) to a state in which its functions and values approach its unaltered state as closely as possible.
(Ord. 342 § 100.77, 1992)
“Road or street”
means any vehicular right-of-way which (1) is an existing state, county or municipal roadway; or (2) is a publicly owned easement; or (3) is shown upon a plat or short plat approved pursuant to applicable land division laws; or (4) is a private access greater than 50 feet in length serving more than one property through right of use or easement. The road or street shall include all land within the boundaries of the road right-of-way which is improved.
(Ord. 342 § 100.79, 1992)
“Salmonid”
means a member of the fish family salmonidae. In the city of Forks these include chinook, coho, chum, sockeye and pink salmon; rainbow, steelhead, cutthroat trout; brown trout; Brook and Dolly Varden char, kokanee, and whitefish.
(Ord. 342 § 100.80, 1992)
“Special flood hazard areas”
means the area adjoining the floodway which is subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any year, as determined by engineering studies acceptable to the city of Forks city council. The coastal high hazard areas are included within special flood hazard areas.
(Ord. 342 § 100.83, 1992)
“Special reports”
means those reports required as a part of regulated use or development review required by this chapter. Special reports shall include but not be limited to the following:
(1) 
Administrative wetland boundary and ranking evaluation;
(2) 
Building site application;
(3) 
Drainage and erosion control plan;
(4) 
Geotechnical report;
(5) 
Grading plan;
(6) 
Habitat management plan;
(7) 
Mitigation plan;
(8) 
Wetland boundary survey;
(9) 
Wetland mitigation plan; and
(10) 
Wetland ranking evaluation.
(Ord. 342 § 100.84, 1992)
“Steep slope”
means an area which is equal to or in excess of 40 percent slope, or where the ground surface rises 10 feet or more vertically within a horizontal distance of 25 feet.
(Ord. 342 § 100.87, 1992)
“Streams”
means those areas in the city of Forks where the surface water flow is sufficient to produce a defined channel or bed. A defined channel or bed is an area which demonstrates clear evidence of the passage of water and includes but is not limited to bedrock channels, gravel beds, sand and silt beds and defined-channel swales. The channel or bed need not contain water year-round. This definition is not meant to include irrigation ditches, canals, storm or surface water runoff devices or other artificial watercourses unless they are used by salmon or used to convey streams naturally occurring prior to construction.
(Ord. 342 § 100.90, 1992)
“Structure”
means a permanent or temporary edifice or building, or any piece of work artificially built or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner, whether installed, on, above, or below the surface of the ground or water.
(Ord. 342 § 100.91, 1992)
“Toe of slope”
means a distinct topographic break in slope. Where no distinct break exists, this point shall be the lower most limit of the landslide hazard area as defined and classified in Article VI of this chapter.
(Ord. 342 § 100.92, 1992)
“Top of slope”
means a distinct topographic break in slope. Where no distinct break in slope exists, this point shall be the uppermost limit of the landslide hazard area as defined and classified in Article VI of this chapter.
(Ord. 342 § 100.93, 1992)