S-3610               _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 6149

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By Senator DeJarnatt

Read first time 1/13/88 and referred to Committee on Environment & Natural Resources.

AN ACT Relating to vehicular traffic on ocean beaches; amending RCW 43.51.680 and 79.94.360; and adding a new section to chapter 79.94 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 79.94 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) Vehicular traffic on the ocean beaches of the Long Beach peninsula shall be regulated, and such regulations enforced, by Pacific county, in the case of unincorporated areas, and by the appropriate municipality, in the case of incorporated areas.

          (2) Vehicular traffic may be prohibited only during the period from May 15 through October 15.  During this period, vehicular traffic shall be prohibited on at least twenty-five percent, and not more than forty percent, of the beaches within each governmental jurisdiction.

          (3) In regulating or prohibiting vehicular traffic under this section, the governmental jurisdictions shall consider:

          (a) Pedestrian and vehicular safety;

          (b) Marine and shore birds and mammal habitats;

          (c) The preservation of beach vegetation;

          (d) The protection of sand dune topography;

          (e) The prudent management of clam beds;

          (f) The economic impacts to the local community;

          (g) Public access and parking availability; and

          (h) Allocation of authority among appropriate local elected officials.

        Sec. 2.  Section 46.08.180, chapter 12, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 110, chapter 3, Laws of 1983 and RCW 43.51.680 are each amended to read as follows:

          For the protection and conservation of natural resources, and for the safety and enjoyment of the public using the beaches, the Washington state parks and recreation commission, after agreement with the Washington state department of transportation, shall establish reasonable regulations for the use and control of vehicular traffic on and along the ocean beach highways  as designated and established under RCW 79.94.340, 79.94.350, and 79.94.360.  The Washington state parks and recreation commission shall cooperate with county sheriffs and the state patrol in enforcing such traffic regulations:  PROVIDED, That automobile driving shall be permitted on the beaches subject to section 1 of this 1988 act and the authority of the department of fisheries to prohibit driving over clam beds.

        Sec. 3.  Section 121, chapter 21, Laws of 1982 1st ex. sess. and RCW 79.94.360 are each amended to read as follows:

          The shore and beach of the Pacific ocean, including the area or space lying, abutting, or fronting on said ocean and between ordinary high tide and extreme low tide (as such shore and beach are now or hereafter may be) from the Columbia river or Cape Disappointment on the south to a point three hundred feet southerly from the south line of the government jetty on Peterson's Point, state of Washington, on the north, be and the same are hereby declared a public highway forever, and as such highway shall remain forever open to the use of the public, except as provided under section 1 of this 1988 act.

          No part of said shore or beach shall ever be sold, conveyed, leased, or otherwise disposed of.