by Ralph Nichols

Burien City Council members drew a line in the sand Monday night (May 9).

They won’t adopt four amendments to the updated Burien Shoreline Master Program (SMP), as requested recently by the state Department of Ecology.

The most controversial amendment wanted by Ecology would have imposed a 50-foot buffer plus an additional 15-foot setback along the developed residential marine shoreline. The city’s new SMP retained an existing 20-foot marine buffer with no additional setback.

City Manager Mike Martin said that without additional direction from council members, staff was ready “to tell Ecology that the city has received no additional information on which to base a decision so we’re sticking to our guns.”

Following a brief discussion, council members by consensus gave staff a green light. A formal response to the state agency’s proposed amendments and other changes to the local SMP will be submitted to the council for a final OK on May 23.

Burien Planning Director Scott Greenberg told council members that 37 changes requested by Ecology “are consistent with city’s policy direction” when it adopted the updated SMP last September and should be approved.

Another seven requested changes to the SMP can be accepted “with minor modifications,” he continued.

But, Greenberg said, four of the changes wanted by Ecology “are inconsistent” with city policy, and staff “recommends rejecting them.”

“I am disturbed by the Department of Ecology document,” said Councilman Gordon Shaw. “It bothers me greatly that Ecology had representatives at all three stages of our process, and yet they just go into a back room in Olympia … and stuff things down our throat….

“‘OK, you did all that but that doesn’t matter’” seems to be Ecology’s attitude toward the local SMP process,” Shaw suggested.

“Who are these people who can take this process we’ve been through and just throw it out?” said Councilman Gerald Robison. “I support staying with what’s been done already.”

Noting that she voted for a 50-foot buffer last year, Councilwoman Rose Clark said, “I’m not continuing with that [buffer]. I’m not in favor of it now.” She also expressed disappointment that Ecology failed to give the city “some recognition of our effort.”

But Mayor Joan McGilton demurred, saying she “found the work Ecology did was reasonable.” Yet “even though I agree with Ecology, I will support the city’s plan.”

The other amendments to the SMP requested by Ecology but rejected by the council would have curtailed a homeowner’s ability to rebuild if the home was destroyed, removed an outright ban on watercraft on Lake Burien if public access occurs in the future, and imposed an additional step for a shoreline variance in geologically hazardous areas and wetland buffers.

Earlier in the meeting, Three Tree Point resident Ron Franz said while “the city was pretty darned responsive to public opinion … I’m profoundly disappointed by Ecology’s response. The [width of the] buffer is just a number Ecology pulled out of a hat.”

After thanking the city for its efforts in responding to Ecology, Michael Noakes, president of the Burien Marine Homeowners Association, said he was “surprised and disappointed by Ecology’s response” to the SMP “with its focus on ‘development creep’ as the rationale for buffers.”

The agency made “a blatant attack on homeowners’ ability to rebuild their homes in the existing footprint,” Noakes added.

And while pleased that the Department of Ecology recognized the validity of a homeowners association study of Burien’s Puget Sound shoreline, “I find it curious that they ignored our findings,” he noted.

Three Tree Point resident Andy Ryan said Ecology “seems to have this unfounded fear that we [marine] homeowners want to move our homes to the water’s edge.”

Ryan also voiced disappointment with restrictions on bulkhead heights and planting non-native vegetation in the absence of scientific evidence to support them.

Every city and county in Washington is required by a 2003 legislative action to review and update their local SMPs, which were mandated by the 1972 voter-approved Shoreline Management Act, with direction and review by Ecology.

BTB Real Estate Sponsor Prudential Northwest’s Open House for this week is a well built brick basement rambler on Lake Burien – a perfect Mother’s Day gift!

This home has been lovingly cared-for for over 50 years.

It has a large lot, lovely manicured yard, plus waterfront, along with a shared dock for boats, swimming and parties.

This lakefront home has large rooms, including two rec rooms, a formal dining room and eating space in the kitchen, and a 2-car garage and carport.

This is a beautiful hideaway that’s close to schools, shopping and the airport.

Here are the details:

WHEN: Sunday, May 8th from 1pm – 4pm.

WHERE: 1825 SW 152nd Street, Burien, WA 98166

INFO:

• List Price: $855,000
• Listing #: 197354
• Beds: 4
• Baths: 2
• Year Built: 1947
• Approximate House SqFt: 3,820
• Lot Square Footage: 26,076

Interior Features:

• 2nd Kitchen
• Bath Off Master
• Dble Pane/Strm Windw



• Dining Room
• Security System

Marketing Remarks:

Well built brick bsmt. rambler!

Lovingly cared for over 50 years.

Large lot,lovely manicured yard, plus waterfront on private Lake Burien.

A home w/large rooms including 2 rec rooms, formal D.R.+ eating space in the kitchen.

2 car garage + carport. Shared dock at the lake for boats,swimming and parties.

A BEAUTIFUL HIDEAWAY yet close to schools,shopping and airport.

Dock use and care shared with neighbor to the east.

Click here to see the full, detailed listing.

Click here to view all of Prudential Northwest’s Open Houses.

“Burien’s master program provides significant improvements in the protection, development, restoration and water-quality protection of the city’s 5.5 miles of marine and 1.5 miles of Lake Burien shorelines,” reads an Ecology press release. “The update will promote the protection and restoration of shoreline habitat, accommodate historic land use patterns, and provide for public access.”

Here’s more text from Ecology’s release:

Ecology informed the city that the program would need changes in specific areas to meet state Shoreline Management Act (SMA) requirements and guidelines. The guidelines were negotiated in 2003 among business interests, ports, environmental groups, shoreline user groups, cities and counties, Ecology, and the courts. These changes include:

• Requiring a maximum 50-foot buffer with a 15-foot setback for new development on marine shorelines, while allowing a reduced buffer, in some cases, if neighboring homes are closer than that to the shoreline.
• Removing an outright prohibition on watercraft on Lake Burien if public access were to occur.
• Clarification of the types of commercial development allowed in shoreline jurisdiction.
• Keeping a single-family home in “conforming” status, even if it requires a variance to expand on shoreline property.

The city may respond by accepting Ecology’s changes, which would put the shoreline master program into effect. Or, the city may submit alternate changes, which would require Ecology review and approval.

Burien is one of several local governments that have completed their updates. The revised master program combines local plans for future shoreline development and preservation with new shoreline development ordinances and related permitting requirements.

About 230 towns, cities and counties statewide are in the process or soon will be updating their master programs during the next few
years, under the state’s 1972 voter-approved SMA.

Shoreline master programs are a cornerstone of the SMA. It requires cities and counties with regulated shorelines to develop and periodically update their locally tailored programs to help minimize environmental damage to shoreline areas, reserve appropriate areas for water-oriented uses, and protect the public’s right to public lands and waters.

For more info on Ecology’s review of Burien’s shoreline master program, click here.

More about shoreline master programs here.

The City of Burien’s Shoreline Master Program information is here.

We’ve covered this issue extensively for the last year or so – to read our previous coverage, click here.

BTB Real Estate Sponsor Prudential Northwest’s Open House for this week is a well built brick basement rambler on Lake Burien!

This home has been lovingly cared-for for over 50 years.

It has a large lot, lovely manicured yard, plus waterfront, along with a shared dock for boats, swimming and parties.

This lakefront home has large rooms, including two rec rooms, a formal dining room and eating space in the kitchen, and a 2-car garage and carport.

This is a beautiful hideaway that’s close to schools, shopping and the airport.

Here are the details:

WHEN: Sunday, March 27th from 1pm – 4pm.

WHERE: 1825 SW 152nd Street, Burien, WA 98166

INFO:

• List Price: $855,000
• Listing #: 197354
• Beds: 4
• Baths: 2
• Year Built: 1947
• Approximate House SqFt: 3,820
• Lot Square Footage: 26,076

Interior Features:

• 2nd Kitchen
• Bath Off Master
• Dble Pane/Strm Windw



• Dining Room
• Security System

Marketing Remarks:

Well built brick bsmt. rambler!

Lovingly cared for over 50 years.

Large lot,lovely manicured yard, plus waterfront on private Lake Burien.

A home w/large rooms including 2 rec rooms, formal D.R.+ eating space in the kitchen.

2 car garage + carport. Shared dock at the lake for boats,swimming and parties.

A BEAUTIFUL HIDEAWAY yet close to schools,shopping and airport.

Dock use and care shared with neighbor to the east.

Click here to see the full, detailed listing.

Click here to view all of Prudential Northwest’s Open Houses.

First picture is morning of Jan. 1. Maybe ice half way out, but ducks swimming near.

Second picture, this morning early, Jan. 2. Ice or water? No movement is a clue, and the line in the water. And no ducks swimming.

Third picture, across Lake Burien, airport control tower in distance. And evidence behind the steam, but hard to see.

Fourth picture a few minutes later. Solid evidence...

And a closer look...irrefutable evidence! Don't 'quack' the ice little fella...

And yes, now numerous ducks are learning the hard way about frozen water...

Temps will likely hit a high around 40 today, with lows in the 20s, as our New Year’s cold snap continues…

Photo of Moon over Lake Burien by Gregory Rehmke.

by Ralph Nichols

Homeowners around Lake Burien lost their request for a downzone to low density in their neighborhood on a 5-1 vote by the city council Dec. 13.

But Councilman Gordon Shaw, who voted against the proposed amendment to the city’s comprehensive plan, suggested a solution for the lakeside residents.

“If there is unanimous approval of all the folks around the lake, there is nothing the city can do to stop you from drafting an agreement to stop you and all your neighbors from subdividing your land,” Shaw said.

“That is your remedy,” he added, noting that 162 of them had signed a petition requesting the downzone to protect the water quality in 22-acre Lake Burien and adjacent wetlands.

Mayor Joan McGilton, Deputy Mayor Rose Clark, and Council members Brian Bennett and Kathy Keene also voted against the downzone.

Lucy Krakowiak cast the lone vote for the request, while Councilman Jack Block Jr. was absent.

For a second consecutive meeting, Lake Burien residents implored council members to downzone the area from medium density (lots with a minimum of 7,200 square feet) to low density (lots with at least 12,000 square feet).

There are only two areas in the city that have “the degree of wetlands that Lake Burien has,” said resident Chestine Edgar. “The best available science says critical areas should be low density” and it would be “purposeful and malicious” to ignore the scientific evidence.

And at their Dec. 6 meeting, Edgar told council members that the requested change was necessary to prevent future over-development around the lake that could threaten water quality.

In 1981, 12 years before Burien incorporated, King County zoned the Lake Burien neighborhood for development. In 1999, the city updated the zoning map to allow moderate density – but overlooked amending the text of its comprehensive plan.

The amendment voted on Dec. 13 brought the comprehensive plan text into agreement with the zoning map.

Edgar pleaded before the vote, “If you have made an error in the past … we are asking you to reconsider.”

Last week, during extensive public comment, Debi Wagner, referring to the petition, said “the people have spoken tonight … we’re all watching you and how you vote.”

Other comments, many of which were stated repeatedly, by Lake Burien residents in the two meetings included:

• The proposed comprehensive plan amendment “has been done without an analysis of the Lake Burien wetlands.”
• The Lake Burien area “meets all the criteria for a rezone.”
• A downzone “will protect the lake” and “show that the Burien City Council is serious about protecting the environment.”
• “Please be the stewards of the public trust.”

But, Greg Anderson said last week, the current map “is not a mistake” and the area “has been rezoned moderate density for at least 29 years.”

Burien Planning Commission member Jim Clingan, who voted against recommending the downzone, said at the earlier meeting that characteristics of the neighborhood “more closely match moderate density rather than low density.

“The entire lake is not a critical area,” Clingan added. “It has been zoned for development since 1981. The city should not deny those who want to subdivide their property.”

His remarks prompted Planning Commission member John Upthegrove to urge the city council “to ignore” property rights and “listen to the people” when they vote on the request.

“To discuss property rights when property rights is not part of the criteria is wrong,” Upthegrove said.

Planning commissioners deadlocked 3-3 when they voted earlier on whether to recommend the downzone to the city council.

At the Dec. 13 meeting, Sam Pace with the Seattle King County Association of Realtors, described the rezone request as “fundamentally flawed” and not in conformity with provisions of the state’s Growth Management Act.

Garrett Huffman with the Washington Master Builders Association noted that homes built today are so tightly regulated that runoff from new construction would not affect the lake’s water quality even with moderate density.

Upthegrove retorted, “When we have people from out of town telling us how to do this, that’s disgusting.”

Keene interjected that while future property rights was not one of the specified criteria for deciding the zoning question, “property rights apply to current property owners.”

McGilton, Clark and Shaw were on the Planning Commission in 1999 when the zoning map was changed. They agreed the primary critical-areas focus on the commission then was on steep slopes that are slide prone.

Last week Shaw said, “No one from the city is coming to [Lake Burien residents] forcing them to subdivide their property … to change the zoning to solve a problem that doesn’t exist is just irresponsible.”

We’ve been following the story

On Wednesday, November 3, a sample of clear lake water was taken from south shoreline of Lake Burien and analyzed for the presence of toxins in the algae.

Final results came from the lab today.  The concentration of the November 3 sample was 0.81 micrograms per liter.  This is a major decrease from two weeks previously, which generated a reading of 41 micrograms per liter for a scummy sample at the same location.  This latest reading continues a downward trend and is far below the 6 microgram per liter state-recommended caution level.

We will take another sample November 17 (two weeks after the November 3 sample).  If that sample also is below 6.0 micrograms per liter, we will conclude that the lake has ended its production of toxic algae for the season and we will cease sampling.

Looks like the Creature from the B-Town Lagoon continues to hang (or should we say swim) around – Miller/Walker Creek Steward Dennis Clark reports that the most recent tests of Lake Burien shows a 45% increase in the level of toxic algae.

This most recent test, conducted Wednesday, Oct. 13th at the south shoreline of the lake, showed results of 815 micrograms per liter of toxic algae. The previous test, done the week before, showed a reading of 563 micrograms per liter. This is a 45% increase, and far above the 6 micrograms per lieter state-recommended caution level.

Residents are advised to keep dogs and small children out of the lake as a precaution.

According to Clark:

The lake is still producing toxic algae and residents should continue following previously recommended steps to avoid ingesting algae (download here, PDF file).

Dogs and small children should be kept out of the lake to minimize risk to their health.

Looks like the Creature from the B-Town Lagoon is still hanging (or should we say swimming) around – Miller/Walker Creek Steward Dennis Clark reports that this week’s tests of Lake Burien shows a high level of toxic algae.

The most recent levels, taken Oct. 5th, show a level of 563 micrograms per liter, far above the 6 microgram per liter, state-recommended caution level.

The most previous level, taken Sept. 21st, was a 698 reading.

Residents are warned to keep children and pets (especially dogs) out of the lake as a precaution.

Here’s what Clark said in an email:

On Tuesday, October 5, a sample of algae scum was taken from south shoreline of Lake Burien and analyzed for the presence of toxins in the algae.

Preliminary results came from the lab today (Friday, Oct. 8):

The concentration of the October 5 sample was 563 micrograms per liter. This is far above the 6 microgram per liter state-recommended caution level and is comparable to the 698 reading from September 21 obtained from a sample of thick algae at the NE outlet from the lake.

The lake is still producing toxic algae and residents should continue following previously recommended steps to avoid ingesting algae (download here, PDF file). Dogs and small children should be kept out of the lake to minimize risk to their health.

As the weather turns colder and wetter, the human health risks continue to decline as the likelihood of ingestion goes down but dogs – being dogs – can expose themselves at any time of year.