DragonPearl-01 by Jack Mayne At the August 4 Burien City Council meeting, Angela Cheng, owner of Dragon Pearl Restaurant, told Council members she has owned the business in Burien for 38 years –– “never a violation,” – but she said she had been fined $8,000 for problems on her property. “I don’t know what to do,” Cheng told the Council. “I don’t think I deserve it.” The B-Town Blog asked the city and were given a copy of a letter sent to Ms. Cheng by city paralegal Cynthia Schaff. The letter said the city had received “citizen complaints about potential code violations at your restaurant.” After an inspection of her property and that Cheng was told of “violations related to an illegal parking area, illegal dwelling unit(s), illegal use of an extension cord to supply electricity to a motor home, graffiti, numerous junk vehicles, and accumulation of trash.” Schaff wrote that the city code compliance officer inspected her property again in February and “again and found that the violations still existed.” Schaff wrote that discussions were held “with you and the potential new buyer of your business” and then the city sent a “formal letter, outlining the violations, requesting compliance by March 6, 2014, and stating the amount of fines that could be imposed for noncompliance.” Inspections by the city took place in March and April. “On July 3, 2014, when compliance was not forthcoming, fines were assessed per City Code in the amount of $7,625.” About the same time as Cheng appeared before the Council, Schaff wrote, “staff received a call from you, stating that you had been unaware of the current violations but would correct them as soon as possible. Schaff said the city inspected the property on August 10 and “determined that the violations have now been corrected.” Schaff told The B-Town Blog on Thursday (Aug. 28) “no further action by the City will be taken since the violations have now been corrected.” But the $7,625 fine stands because “compliance was not achieved by the deadline.” Schaff added, “Ms. Cheng has indicated that she may submit a request for mitigation of the fine, but the City hasn’t yet received such a request.” Dragon Pearl Restaurant is located at 15304 1st Ave South: [caption id="attachment_76663" align="aligncenter" width="490"]DragonPearl-02 The lot behind the Dragon Pearl is where the code violations were focused. It currently sits mostly empty…[/caption] [caption id="attachment_76662" align="aligncenter" width="490"]DragonPearl-03 …except for the cab of a parked Mack truck. Photos by Scott Schaefer.[/caption]]]>

Senior Reporter Jack Mayne passed away in December, 2021. In his honor we have created the Jack Mayne Journalism Scholarship.

4 replies on “Property owner fined nearly $8,000 by City of Burien for code violations”

  1. Ms. Cheng is a slumlord, at one time she owned several properties in the area all of which fell into severe disrepair, she seems to be selling off most of her portfolio,nice to see she is finally being held accountable.

    1. Good for the city. Now if they would do something about all the vehicles & trailers north of SW 146th st on the dead end of 18th Ave Sw. 13 vehicles + looks like it could be a violation.

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