The Shoreline Management Act (SMA) requires all counties and most towns and cities with shorelines to develop and implement Shoreline Master Programs. The law also defines our role in reviewing and approving local programs. The SMA was passed by the Washington Legislature in 1971 and adopted by voters in 1972. Its overarching goal is "to prevent the inherent harm in an uncoordinated and piecemeal development of the state’s shorelines."
The SMA applies to all 39 Washington counties and about 250 towns and cities with stream, river, lake, or marine shorelines. These shorelines include:
The SMA states that the interests of all the people "shall be paramount in the management of shorelines of statewide significance." These special shorelines include:
There are three basic SMA policy areas: shoreline use, environmental protection, and public access.
The SMA establishes the concept of preferred shoreline uses. These uses are consistent with controlling pollution, preventing damage to the natural environment, or are unique to or dependent upon use of Washington's shorelines. Preferred uses include:
As much as possible, shorelines should be reserved for "water-oriented" uses, including those that are "water-dependent," "water-related," and for "water enjoyment."
Preferred uses for shorelines of statewide significance are designed to:
The SMA is intended to protect shoreline natural resources, including the land, vegetation, wildlife, and aquatic habitats, against adverse environmental effects. All allowed uses are required to offset adverse environmental impacts, as much as possible, and to preserve the natural character and aesthetics of the shoreline.
Shoreline Master Programs must include a public-access element, including provisions for public access to publicly owned areas. They are to include an element for preserving and enlarging recreational opportunities.
The SMA also implements the common law Public Trust Doctrine. This doctrine conveys that the waters of the state are a public resource for the purposes of navigation, conducting commerce, fishing, recreation, and similar uses. In addition, the Public Trust Doctrine is not invalidated by private ownership of the underlying land. The doctrine limits public and private use of tidelands and other shorelands to protect the public's right to access waters of the state.
The state and U.S. constitutions provide us the authority to conduct activities necessary to uphold the SMA and significant limitations on that authority. This basic authority comes from the police-power provision, allowing state and local governments to adopt and enforce laws to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare. Limitations are set by state and federal constitutional due process and takings provisions.
Government activities that constrain private options have to provide an opportunity for input by affected private parties. To ensure a Shoreline Master Program is legally defensible, we work in partnership with local governments to make sure due process is followed by seeking public input when:
Government is constrained from taking private property without due process and just compensation. The takings issue is perhaps the most debated issue in land-use law. Its meaning is clear in cases of condemnation or other acquisition for public use — government must pay the fair market value.
It’s reasonably clear that most common forms of regulations limiting property use do not require compensation, even where a property's value has been significantly diminished. This holds as long as the regulation is reasonably related to protecting legitimate public interests. However, courts have indicated there is a point where use limitations on an individual piece of property require compensation.
The SMA addresses the takings issue by identifying the public purposes of the law and requiring appropriate flexibility in its implementation. Individual Shoreline Master Programs need to be drafted with the takings issue in mind and every permit decision must consider the takings issue.