[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a Letter to the Editor, written and submitted by verified resident. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions of South King Media, nor its staff.]
This year Burien is working to complete our comprehensive plan which is the long-range planning document that guides how the town grows over the next 20 years. It is overhauled every 10 years. Updating this plan, as we are now, can be stressful as it can signal citywide changes which can affect every resident in some way. I’ve heard a lot of questions from my neighbors before and after my time on the Buren Planning Commission, and I’d like to break down what has been happening.
We are coming to the end of this multi-year process and this week on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, the Burien Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the Draft Comprehensive Plan. It is one of the last chances to speak up until the City Council takes this up later this year. You can come to the commission meeting in person to provide comment, or send in written comment to planningcommission@burienwa.gov. The Commission will make their final recommendation to the City Council on July 3rd. This is your opportunity to come and make your views heard and advocate for your neighborhood, I hope to see you there!
Where are we now?
The comprehensive plan has been drafted from feedback that was gathered over the last two years in public meetings throughout Burien, focus groups conducted with select stakeholders, surveys, and online comment tools to name a few.
The Planning Commission will review the draft comprehensive plan, which I will discuss below, and which you can comment on publicly next week.
Once the Planning Commission has heard from community members they will vote on the plan and decide if it is ready to go to the City Council for its final review later this summer/fall.
How are we deciding on the plan?
When this process started, three overarching goals were laid down: 1) Strengthen Ties to Place, 2) Safer and Healthier Communities, and 3) Grow with Intention. Burien is a wonderfully diverse, passionate, and proud city. We want a safe and healthy community, and so we must also find ways to cultivate the city we want and need over the next 20 years. Not all of the changes we make now will be seen or felt immediately or even in the next 5 years, so we also must be patient and deliberate. We will need to make room for new neighbors, both our own children and folks moving here from other communities, and how we do that depends on what we decide now.
Three areas will receive special focus:
Boulevard Park
Boulevard Park has felt much of the brunt of the changes to our region this last decade, not to mention a lack of investment in general since annexation. Located under the SeaTac flight path, residents deal with heightened air and noise pollution and have seen their last grocery store leave in 2019. The plan lays these (and more) issues out and tries to address them in thoughtful ways. Zoning would allow for modest growth, focused on areas near the 120th St shops and nearby transit corridors. Encouraging the most growth north n and east outside of the worst of the noise pollution. In addition, by increasing density, and zoning land for one, it is hoped a grocery store could return to the area. The plan also calls for improving key residential corridors for pedestrians and bikes making it safer for kids to get to schools, parks, and libraries. New housing would have improved sound insulation and help to get more folks into quieter, healthier housing. In addition, new State funding sources for sound insulation will also help improve existing housing too. Boulevard Park has spent more than enough time being ignored, make sure you and your neighbors make your voices heard at public comment so you get what you need to thrive!
Ambaum Corridor
Outside of Downtown Burien, most of the anticipated growth will fall in this corridor from 116th street to 148th street. Most of it south of 122nd St, and densest at the intersections of 128th, 136th, and 148th Streets. Ambaum is a vital artery for both cars and buses, contains important culturally significant stores and restaurants, as well as healthcare providers, parks, and churches. It also contains a significant quantity of our remaining affordable housing stock where folks are at high risk of displacement. The new plan calls for the densest areas directly along the corridor with modest density within 2 blocks of Ambaum, where access to transit is best. This allows for more housing in areas that can best support it while also offering housing that is on quieter, lower traffic side streets. We would also see pedestrian and bike improvements on 8th Ave (from 116th St to 130th St). While there would be more density, it would be kept to a reasonable scale, with buildings not too much larger than we see there today in most of the neighborhood. To help prevent displacement of the most vulnerable residents and businesses, current multifamily housing and select business areas will be zoned to discourage redevelopment in near future unless the developer’s plan meets the needs of the people that are there already.
Downtown and 1st Ave
These areas community members indicated they’d like to see the most density, and will see the most change in zoning. While preserving much of the business area that is currently on 152nd street, the areas around it would see building heights increase, with the tallest buildings being up to about 10 stories allowed between 148th and 152nd, where we see our largest buildings today. We could also see similar sized buildings along 1st Ave from roughly Fred Meyer’s to Trader Joe’s.
Common Myths
When my neighborhood is upzoned they will take my house.
A change in zoning does not change anything except what can be built on a lot in the future, whether by you or whomever you sell your property too.
Burien doesn’t have enough space or amenities for growth.
Many areas of our region are denser than Burien and have accommodated growth, such as parts of West Seattle. If anything, density and growth helps to create the conditions for more parks, businesses, and other amenities.
If we allow this, a 6-floor apartment could be built between small houses.
The new zoning explicitly requires that new construction fits the scale of the neighborhood as it is at the time of construction. This means that we can have more growth but phased in a smart and appropriate way to compliment our neighborhoods, not replace them wholesale.
Why should we do this and what can I do now?
The State requires that all cities and towns go through this process every 10 years and the Puget Sound Regional Council provides targets for each city to aim for. Our region will see continued growth, and Burien is expected to need to accommodate nearly 20,000 new residents (or 7,500 households) and nearly 5,000 more jobs over the next 20 years. Updating our plans to account for this is the prudent thing to do if we want to see growth enhance our city and not make it a harder place to live financially, physically, or socially.
–Rocco DeVito
Resources:
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Commissioner DeVito performed a great service by proving important planning information to the public.
I am impressed that the proposed changes include increasing the height of buildings in part of the core. I’ve often wondered why Burien’s tallest buildings were a floor short of taking advantage of the unparalleled potential views of the sound, Olympics, Cascades and downtown Seattle. Think how wonderful it would be for Burien’s economic vitality if upscale buyers had an opportunity to buy a condominium or rent an apartment with a view not found on the east side, or Des Moines, or Federal Way!
Until the Sheriff enforces common sense measures that deal with the squatters, crime and general civic appearance of downtown, why would anyone buy a unit.