Appendix 3 - Inter-Governmental Coordination in the Shoreline Management Master Program Planning Process
A significant effort was made to coordinate the development of Snohomish County's Shoreline Management Program with the master programs being developed by adjacent local governments. In addition, efforts were made to consult with public agencies whose future plans and programs would be affected by the County's Master Program.
Regional Coordination
A considerable portion of Snohomish County's coordination efforts centered around a series of monthly meetings held during the past year by the twelve counties and several larger cities located within the greater Puget Sound Basin. These meetings provided the participating jurisdictions the opportunity to exchange information, coordinate their planning efforts and generally share the problems and experiences related to development of their individual master programs. Department of Ecology officials were in attendance at all meetings to answer questions and otherwise provide needed assistance and information. Representatives of several other agencies which had a major interest in shoreline management also attended these meetings in order to share their interests and concerns with the assembled local government representatives. The participating agencies included the Department of Natural Resources, the Washington Oceanographic Commission, the Puget Sound Governmental Conference and the University of Washington (Sea Grant Program).
It was generally felt that these meetings greatly improved the lines of communication between the local governments of the Puget Sound Basin and facilitated, much better, individual County-County and County-City contact through which much of the actual inter-governmental shoreline planning coordination was achieved.
With the assistance of the Puget Sound Governmental Conference, the inter-County-City group also sponsored a two day training session on Shoreline Management planning problems for the members of its own local planning staffs.
Local Coordination
At the local level, Snohomish County was authorized by many of its cities and towns to develop their master programs for them. However, several cities including: Everett, Edmonds, Marysville, Stanwood and Snohomish elected to formulate their own programs. Consequently, the County attempted, on a continuing basis, to keep these communities informed of its Master Program's development process and to obtain relevant information regarding the status of their master programs.
The Citizen's Advisory Committee also sought input from a variety of public agencies at its regular public meetings. Special invitations were sent to a number of public agencies involved with shoreline management related activities asking them to make presentations to the Committee and to be available to answer questions. Several public meetings were set aside expressly for the purpose of gaining valuable technical input from these agencies. The County Planning staff also made contact with numerous public agencies and private firms to request review and comments on draft materials and technical assistance on special projects. The following public agencies provided substantial information to the Citizen's Advisory Committee and the County Planning staff.
Federal Agencies
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, Department of Commerce
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
State of Washington Agencies
- Department of Ecology
- Office of the Attorney General
- Department of Game
- Department of Natural Resources
- Department of Fisheries
- Department of Highways
Local Agencies
- Port of Everett
- Snohomish County Public Utility District No. 1
- Snohomish County Extension Service
- Snohomish County Economic Development Council
- Snohomish County Health District
- Snohomish County Department of Public Works
- Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office
In addition to the agencies listed above, all the members of the Technical Advisory Committee were provided with notices and agendas for each Citizen's Advisory Committee meeting and were generally kept informed of the Committee's progress.