Upcoming Burien Town Hall, Boulevard Park Library, April 14. Resident asks why questions go unanswered as Burien planners pitch industrial rezoning, raising concerns about impacts to homes, infrastructure, and neighborhood character.
Burien Mayor Sarah Moore will be at Boulevard Park Library on Tuesday, April 14, 5:00 pm to host a Town Hall on North of NERA topic.
Editor’s note: Letter to the Editor submissions reflect the views of the author. The author, a verified Burien resident, has requested anonymity out of concerns for retaliation.
Context: The North of NERA ReZone proposal is included in Burien’s 2044 Comprehensive Plan and concerns property north of the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA).
Dear Editor,
On Saturday, I attended a community conversation at the Boulevard Park Library, hosted by a few city planners of Burien where they set out to expound on the virtues of what the City of Burien calls “the North of NERA project” and answer residents’ questions. North of NERA is a rezoning project of an established neighborhood of single-family homes that house hundreds of families located from 128th to 138th and 12th Ave. S. to Des Moines Memorial.
The current Residential zoning (RS7,200) protects homeowners and allows home businesses to exist without encroachment of dirtier, noisier, messier businesses or building projects. The new proposal under the designation of “Industrial,” the planners say is for new job growth, would drastically change the nature and character of a neighborhood, as well as homeowner property rights as those homes will become “non-conforming” in the new zoning.
A city planner gave us a presentation with substitute teacher vibes, giving long-winded “planner-ese” answers that after several minutes amounted to “we don’t know yet.” The whole presentation could be summed up with “We Don’t Know Yet.”
They don’t know how it will affect home values, our property taxes, what kind of businesses will be built, how many parking lots, or if there will be warehouses (though one grinning assistant planner said he thinks warehouses are just fine and was surprised to hear we don’t have any in our neighborhood).
They also don’t know what new municipal code it might be (except it will be Industrial), they don’t know how it affects the water, the sewer or septic on properties, what kind of infrastructure burden it would bring, if that would raise our utilities, or how businesses will be regulated. While emphasizing that “too many regulations will hamper business,” they still don’t seem to know who will be in charge of that.
They don’t know how SeaTac feels about that change next to their large park and fragile wetland area.
They didn’t even know that Burien Mayor Sarah Moore will be at the same place (Boulevard Park Library) for a town hall (5-7pm) on this Tuesday, April 14 to answer questions about this very subject.
What they DID seem to know was that it absolutely has to be Industrial zoning, that new road construction would be needed to handle the new traffic increase, that they want to expand home businesses but also be attractive to new businesses that the free market decides, and that they also asked us what kind of businesses we’d like there.
They reminded us that living near a flight path is unhealthy anyway - as if next to a highway is any better. The Burien 2044 Comprehensive Plan is king, and it includes phasing out single family home properties.
Near the end, they handed out sticker dots to put next to pictures of examples of business types (tires, landscaping, offices, warehouses) that we would like to see in our neighborhood. Although home businesses were mentioned several times, they didn’t have a sticker for that… was it just “jingling of keys?” This type of process really makes us taxpayers proud.
There seems to be an air-headed mentality when it comes to citizen concerns, and genuine surprise when homeowners present legitimate concerns about their homes, investments, and family’s futures here.
It’s not our fault the planners didn’t do their homework, but it is our problem.
The absolute least the tax-salaried city planners could do, is their homework. Maybe that’s just me.
-North of NERA Neighbor
FULL DRAFT on NERA future zoning: https://burienwa.civicweb.net/document/216505/20260211%20Draft%20Existing%20Conditions%20and%20Zoning%20Limi.pdf?handle=349BF59FD4E2403093C23C590395236C
BurienWA.gov webpage on NERA:
https://www.burienwa.gov/business/community_development/planning_initiatives/northeast_redevelopment_area
CONTACT EMAILS for Burien City Planners:
chaneys@burienwa.gov
planningcommission@burienwa.gov
council@burienwa.gov
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