Environmental Planning & Regulation

The urban environment is a highly important element of the quality of life to the people of Port Angeles.  A clean, healthy, and diverse natural environment along with a variety of historical and cultural amenities are critical elements of a high quality community.

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Shoreline Master Program Button

Local environmental regulations and controls are intended to protect and enhance the area’s unique physical features and to create and maintain a community with a high quality of life where the land is used in a manner that is compatible with the area’s unique physical features, its natural amenities, and the overall environment.

Elements of the City’s natural environment that are protected include the City’s marine shoreline, the steep marine bluff facing the shoreline, the streams running through the city and the ravines that contain them, wetlands and other areas that deserve protection. 

The City of Port Angeles’ environmental regulations are designed to balance environmental protections with development potential to maintain the area’s natural attraction and social well being.

  1. Permit Needs
  2. Shorelines
  3. Wetlands
  4. ESA's
  5. Clearing and Grading
  6. Tree Removal

Permits are required for all development and/or uses on sites with Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA’s).

A State Environmentally Sensitive Area (SEPA) Checklist may also be required to be submitted with a permit application. The SEPA is a standardized form that is designed to review the comprehensive  and life-cycle environmental impacts of a project at the earliest possible time in the development process. 

SEPA  review includes a minimum 14-day public comment period.  After the comment period closes, the City’s SEPA Responsible Official will issue a "Threshold Determination".  Depending on the anticipated adverse impacts, the threshold determination may be a Determination of Non-Significance (DNS), a mitigated determination of Nonsignificance (MDNS) or a Determination of Significance (DS).  When a Determination of Significance is issued, an Environmental Impact Statement will be required before a development may begin. For more information on the SEPA process and if your project requires SEPA review, please visit these websites, or contact City Staff.

SEPA City Code
MRSC SEPA Information
Department of Ecology SEPA Information

Contact Us

Phone: 360-417-4750
ced@cityofpa.us

321 E 5th Street
Port Angeles, WA 98362

Hours:

Monday - Friday
8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

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