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A. This Title shall apply to all lands or waters within unincorporated Pierce County that are designated as critical areas by Pierce County.

B. No development shall hereafter be constructed, located, extended, converted, or altered or land subdivided without full compliance with the terms of this Title.

C. When the requirements of this Title are more stringent than those of other Pierce County codes and regulations, including the International Building Code, the requirements of this Title shall apply.

D. Compliance with these regulations does not remove an applicant's obligation to comply with applicable provisions of any other Federal, State, or local law or regulation.

E. Criteria for determining critical areas is contained within each Chapter of this Title.

F. When a site contains two or more critical areas, the minimum standards and requirements for each identified critical area as set forth in this Title shall be applied.

G. Critical areas, as defined and regulated by this Title, are identified on the following Pierce County Critical Areas Atlas Maps:

1. County Wetland Inventory Maps;

2. Landslide Hazard Area Maps;

3. Erosion Hazard Area Maps;

4. Seismic Hazard Area Maps;

5. Volcanic Hazard Area Maps;

6. Mine Hazard Area Maps;

7. Aquifer Recharge and Wellhead Protection Areas Maps;

8. Fish and Wildlife Habitat Area Maps;

9. Flood Hazard Area Maps;

10. Marine Shoreline Critical Salmon Habitat Maps; and

11. Oak and Prairie Area Maps.

H. The exact boundary of each critical area depicted on the Critical Areas Atlas Maps is approximate and is intended only to provide an indication of the presence of a critical area on a particular site. Additional critical areas that have not been mapped may be present on a site. The actual presence of a critical area or areas and the applicability of these regulations shall be determined based upon the classification or categorization criteria and review procedures established for each critical area.

I. The Pierce County Critical Areas Atlas Maps shall be updated and maintained by the Cartography Laboratory of the Planning and Public Works Department.

J. Development of the Pierce County Critical Areas Atlas Maps were derived from the sources listed in PCC 18E.10.140 – Appendix A. These sources may be updated from time to time and will result in a correlating update to the applicable Critical Areas Atlas Maps.

(Ord. 2021-123s § 1, 2022; Ord. 2017-12s § 2 (part), 2017; Ord. 2006-103s § 2 (part), 2006; Ord. 2005-80s § 3 (part), 2005; Ord. 2004-56s § 4 (part), 2004)