POULSBO — The City Council will review an updated draft of the Shoreline Management Program over the holidays  and begin substantive discussions at the Jan. 11 council meeting.

The Shoreline Management Program, which regulates uses in shoreline areas, has not been updated since 1976, according to planner Keri Weaver, and will bring the shoreline plan in compliance with state laws, including the Growth Management Act as well as the local Critical Areas Ordinance, last updated in 2007.

The Planning Commission and Planning Department have been working for two years on the plan, which when completed will be in effect for 10 years. The state’s deadline for the city to adopt an updated plan is December 2012.

Weaver briefly explained the purpose of the plan at Wednesday’s council meeting. She said the plan will help improve water quality in Liberty Bay and its tributaries, set mitigation regulations for future development, and discuss the different types of waterfront and different uses along the waterfront.

So far, the public has been mainly concerned with the economic effects the plan may have, which will alter expansion of existing buildings considered non-compliant under the updated plan, and future commercial buildings on the bay. Weaver, however, said the plan stop development or take away current uses.