The purpose of the Protected Areas Regulations is to provide standards which regulate development on hillsides and areas adjacent to watercourses and wetlands while conserving and promoting the public health, safety and general welfare by minimizing stormwater run-off, soil erosion, and other building and development problems unique to development on hillsides, in riparian areas, and adjacent to wetlands. Further, these regulations are designed to preserve, enhance, and promote the appearance and resources of hillsides, riparian areas, and areas adjacent to wetlands, and to retain the sense of image and identity that the hillside, riparian areas, and areas adjacent to wetlands impart to the City and its residents. These regulations also recognize the unique and sensitive nature of hillsides, riparian areas, and areas adjacent to wetlands within the community and the need to specifically address development thereon.
These regulations are designed to achieve, among others, the following objectives:
(a) To protect the general public, and private property owners, from risks to human life and safety, and potential property damage that could be caused by increased hillside instability.
(b) To assure access to properties within the Protected Areas by Emergency Vehicles involved in the protection of persons and property.
(c) To preserve and protect the unique scenic resources and scenic river and wetland habitats in the Protected Areas.
(d) To preserve and protect the valuable hydrologic systems, fragile hillsides, and valuable flora and fauna; while restricting the proliferation of invasive species in the Protected Areas.
(e) To maintain the ability of riparian areas and wetlands to:
(1) Reduce flood impacts by absorbing peak flows, slow the velocity of floodwaters, and regulate base flow.
(2) Stabilize the banks of watercourses to reduce woody debris from fallen or damaged trees, mitigate streambank erosion, and mitigate the downstream transport of sediments eroded from watercourse banks.
(3) Reduce pollutants in watercourses by filtering, settling, and transforming pollutants in runoff before they enter watercourses.
(f) To maintain the ability of areas adjacent to wetlands to protect the flood control, erosion control, and water quality protection functions of wetlands by minimizing the effects of fluctuations in stormwater flow; urban pollutants; disposal of fill or dredged materials; and other impacts of land use change surrounding wetlands that can reduce wetland functions.
(g) To regulate, subject to the best available technology and practice, development in Protected Areas while conserving and promoting the public health, safety, convenience, and general welfare by minimizing problems due to flooding, water runoff, and soil erosion incurred to meet development needs.
(h) To use the best-accepted design, landscape architecture, building architecture, civil engineering, and hydrological engineering to preserve, enhance, and promote the existing and future appearance and resources in Protected Areas.
(i) To preserve and enhance the beauty of Protected Areas by encouraging the retention of natural topographical features such as drainage swales, streams, wetlands, slope ridge lines, rock outcroppings, vistas from and of hillsides, trees and other natural plant formations and to retain the sense of identity and image that the Protected Areas provide the Municipality. (Ord. 2008-15. Passed 6-12-08.)