The Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) (Bellingham Municipal Code 16.55) designates and classifies environmentally sensitive and hazardous areas as critical areas to protect, maintain and restore these areas and their functions and value, while also allowing for reasonable use of public and private property. Critical areas provide a variety of valuable functions that benefit the community. These functions include water quality protection and enhancement, fish and wildlife habitat, food chain support, flood storage, erosion control, protection from hazards, recreation and more. By limiting adverse impacts to critical areas, the CAO seeks to protect the community, maintain and restore healthy and functioning ecosystems, protect environmentally sensitive areas and provide information about potentially hazardous natural conditions that limit development.
2016 update
The CAO was last updated in 2016. These updates were meant to improve overall administration by staff and predictability for both customers and the general public while maintaining protection of the City’s critical areas. The purpose of this periodic update was to ensure that the CAO remained in compliance with the Growth Management Act (GMA) requirements. The GMA, RCW 36.70A, defines critical areas as: wetlands, frequently flooded areas, fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas (includes streams), geologically hazardous areas, and aquifer recharge areas. The City regulates all of these through BMC 16.55 except aquifer recharge areas because there are none within city limits.
