PORT TOWNSEND — The state Department of Ecology has issued conditional approval of Jefferson County’s updated shoreline master program — taking issue with the plan’s flexible buffer zones, its ban on net-pen aquaculture and its direction for dock length.

In Tuesday’s announcement, Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant called the county’s work a “landmark effort” affecting more than 500 miles of shorelines.

Ecology’s response to the plan — called an SMP — that commissioners approved in 2009 will be discussed at the next meeting of the three Jefferson County commissioners at 9 a.m. Monday in their chambers at the Jefferson County Courthouse at 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.

Commissioners will discuss how to respond to each item. Their response is due March 2.

Ecology’s approval will become final once changes to the county’s plan are made. The county can accept Ecology’s required changes fully — or the county may suggest its own language changes, but that would require additional review and approval by Ecology.

Al Scalf, county community development director, said most of the submitted plan was approved, a situation that he called “encouraging.”

Although Ecology accepted most of the plan, “there are a lot of issues that we need to figure out how to address,” Scalf said.

Ecology said the county’s plan needs to be more clearly defined as to the boundaries of buffers, which are areas in which development is not permitted in order to protect waterways.

The plan establishes protective buffers of 100 to 150 feet with the flexibility to reduce buffers based on individual property circumstances.

Buffer zones were hotly contested by private property owners and real estate interests during public hearings on the plan.

Another controversial area is the use of net pens, which are used in fish farming.

Net-pen aquaculture was prohibited by the commissioners, and the ban was made part of the shoreline master program.

Ecology ruled that the county could not forbid use of the net pens.

“There there is not a conclusive science basis on the record to support such a ban [and] no authority for an outright ban through an SMP,” the state said.

Ecology also will require the county to impose a specific length limit for docks, clearing up the current language that limits the length of new residential docks and piers to the necessary minimum, up to 100 feet.

The changes required by Ecology are “all do-able,” Scalf said.

The update is the first updated shoreline master program in the state that includes new provisions along shorelines in the outer coastal region — the West End — Ecology said.

The county’s first shoreline management program was put into effect in 1989. It has not been updated since, though minor revisions were adopted in 1993, 1996 and 1998.

Work on the new plan began in 2006.

Jefferson County Planning Commission Chairman Peter Downey complimented the “open process” used to develop the plan.

“The fact that Ecology didn’t find all that much wrong with the SMP speaks highly about how it was prepared,” he said.

Said John Austin, chairman of the Jefferson County commissioners: “Jefferson County is pleased to have reached this important milestone after years of collective effort.”

Jefferson County is one of 37 local governments to complete the update required by 2014.

Clallam County has hired ESA Adolfson of Seattle for $599,930 to draft new regulations for shoreline uses, updating the plan that has been in effect since 1976.

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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.