Chambers Creek

Lakewood Shoreline Master Program

A Shoreline Master Program (SMP) is a set of local land-use policies and regulations that guide the use and development of Washington’s shorelines, including lakes, streams, and marine shorelines. SMPs are adopted by local governments and reviewed and approved by the Washington State Department of Ecology under the Shoreline Management Act.

In 2024, Lakewood is conducting a limited update to its SMP, including a public comment period and public hearing.

You can view the draft 2024 SMP amendments here.

  • September 18-October 17: Public comment period open. Submit written comments to Planning Division Manager Tiffany Speir via email.
  • October 2 @ 6:30 p.m.: Joint City of Lakewood and state Department of Ecology public hearing. This is the only public hearing that will be held, per state law. You can attend in person (Lakewood City Hall; Council Chambers, 6000 Main St SW) or via ZOOM at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83938455756 or by calling (253) 215-8782 and entering meeting ID: 83938455756

Have questions or comments? Want to view a hard copy of the proposed amendments?

Contact: Tiffany Speir, Planning Division Manager
[email protected]
City of Lakewood
6000 Main Street SW
Lakewood, WA 98499


2024 Locally Initiated Amendments

The City of Lakewood’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) and Shoreline Master Program (SMP) are connected. The CAO incorporates the SMP buffer widths for river and stream habitat protection buffers and identifies which lakes are regulated under the SMP or CAO.

As part of the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Periodic Review process, the city is updating its CAO to reflect the best available science about how to protect fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas and to directly regulate critical areas not governed under the SMP.

In 2024, the city is also conducting a locally-initiated update to its SMP to reflect changes being made to the CAO. The SMP update is strictly limited and does not make changes to any other text of the SMP. You can view the draft 2024 SMP amendments here.

The next full periodic update of the city’s SMP will occur in 2029, as required by state law. View the 2019 Lakewood Shoreline Master Program (PDF).


SMP Update Review Schedule

The following dates are the anticipated schedule for when the update to the city’s SMP will be before the Lakewood Planning Commission for initial review and the Lakewood City Council for review and final action.

  • Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m.: Introduction to Lakewood Planning Commission.
  • Sept. 18-Oct. 17: Public comment period open. Submit written comments to Planning Division Manager Tiffany Speir via email.
  • Oct. 2, 6:30 p.m.: Joint City of Lakewood and state Department of Ecology public hearing. This is the only public hearing that will be held, per state law.
  • Oct. 16, 6:30 p.m.: Planning Commission meeting; action anticipated.
  • Nov. 24, 7 p.m.: Introduction to Lakewood City Council.
  • Dec. 2, 7 p.m.: City Council regular meeting; action anticipated. (No public hearing is required at the City Council level for this SMP update process.)

Announcements

Proposed amendments

The working document linked below shows proposed amendments to the city’s 2019 adopted SMP.

Draft Amendments (September 18, 2024) (PDF)


Additional Information


Map

A map showing the City of Lakewood, WA's shorelines as identified in its adopted Shoreline Master Program. The map includes different colors along certain shorelines to identify the environmental designations.

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