Cedarhurst Neighbors Raise Alarm Over Rezoning, Urge City to Reconsider Plan | Letter to Editor

Two verified Cedarhurst (North of NERA / Highline / Boulevard Park) residents, who attended their First Neighborhood Meeting (April 29) to discuss the City of Burien's plans to rezone their neighborhood, submitted the following letters to The Highline Journal.

[NOTE FROM EDITOR: Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Highline Journal.  If you wish to submit a story, photo, article, or letter, please email us at info@thehighlinejournal.com.  We look forward to hearing from you.]

Letter 1 - Comments from Cedarhurst homeowner, Leslie Harris:

We are the Cedarhurst Neighborhood.

The neighborhood formerly labeled by city planners as the North of NERA opportunity zone, is nestled within the Boulevard Park/Highline neighborhood of Burien. Residents here have been informing each other about the city planning attempt to rezone our neighborhood from the current Residential to an Industrial zoning designation. We began informing one another simply because we felt that the city had been woefully negligent in doing so. No doubt, the less informed the residents here are, the easier it is for the city to begin its erasure. It is a complicated issue to grapple with, to be sure, and that can put the average person at a disadvantage in understanding what is or isn’t a legitimate threat to one’s future. 

A goal of this zoning plan is to phase out Single Family Home properties and convert them to something more taxable. A lot of reasons have been given by the city that don't seem to hold steady water. Planners have said it’s for hypothetical job numbers, it’s for future home-based pottery studios, it’s because people shouldn’t live here anyway because of the planes, but the bottom line is: it would be easier for them if we quietly submitted.

So, instead, we've been going door to door to tell every person in this neighborhood what’s happening and referring them to the city’s own site on this information to read for themselves. And people are getting angry. We have a right to be angry. We’re a neighborhood that should be receiving help from the city we dutifully pay into, and not be taken advantage of.

This week we had our first Neighborhood Meeting, and civic momentum is growing. Neighbors want to maintain their property rights. Their constitutional private property rights that will be harmed by pulling the Residential designation out from underneath them. The proposed “legal non-conforming” status of homes leaves hundreds of people without the valuable and hard-earned full rights over their home options to be able to keep them. A personal property right to refinance, the right to improve and expand one’s home, the right to retain its value for the next generation. Without these rights and tools, people may be forced to lose their homes. 

Additionally, I haven’t talked to anyone who is in any way against progress or commerce, or improving the city we live in. Many neighbors have businesses themselves, here in the neighborhood and other areas of the city. However, the prevailing opinion is that the city officials think we’re an easy target to meet the goals of the 2044 Comprehensive Plan. Perhaps it’s a lack of imagination that meets laziness, but it’s also difficult to see it as anything other than “punching down” on a neighborhood for being working class.

Except it’s exactly the intelligence, talent, hard work, and heart of the people who live here that is the reason I feel optimistic today.

-Lindsay Harris, homeowner

Letter 2 - Open Letter to the Burien City Council from a Cedarhurst homeowner:

Good evening Councilmembers,

I’m a homeowner in Burien. I want to speak about the real impact of rezoning our neighborhood into an industrial designation, specifically what it means for those of us who already live there.

On paper, it may sound like existing homes are protected under ‘legally nonconforming’ status. But I want to be very clear about what that actually means in practice.

Yes, we are allowed to stay—for now. But our homes are no longer considered a compatible or supported use under the new zoning. That changes everything about our long-term stability as homeowners.

First, our ability to improve our homes becomes limited. We can make small repairs or modest additions, but we lose the freedom to meaningfully expand or adapt our property over time. That reduces our ability to invest in our own homes.

Second, if our home is significantly damaged—whether by fire, accident, or natural causes—we may not be allowed to rebuild as a residence at all. At that point, we could be forced to conform to industrial zoning. That is not a theoretical risk—that is built into how nonconforming use laws work.

Third, if a property sits vacant for too long, or if circumstances change, the right to use it as a home can be lost entirely. That creates legal uncertainty that most homeowners never have to think about—until it’s too late.

And finally, over time, the surrounding environment will shift. Industrial uses bring different levels of traffic, noise, and activity. Even if we stay, the neighborhood itself stops functioning as a residential community. That creates pressure—economic and practical—for homeowners to leave.

So while this proposal does not remove us immediately, it places us into a category that is designed to phase out over time. It turns stable homeowners into temporary occupants of a use the city no longer supports.

I’m asking the council to fully consider that impact. This is not just a zoning change on a map—it is a long-term shift that affects property rights, home values, and the future of established neighborhoods.

Please consider alternatives that preserve residential stability or transition in a way that does not gradually erode the rights of existing homeowners.

Thank you for your time.

-Burien/Cedarhurst Resident

[NOTE FROM EDITOR:  If you wish to submit a story, photo, article or letter, please email us at info@thehighlinejournal.com  Even if you wish to remain anonymous, please include your name and phone number so we may contact you privately. We look forward to hearing from you.]