by Ralph Nichols

An apparent misreading of the limits placed by the Burien Municipal Code (BMC) on where adult entertainment businesses can locate within the city has raised alarm among some community residents.

As you can see below, the BMC states: “An adult entertainment facility shall only be located in the Industrial [I] and Airport Industrial [AI] zones.”

Click image to see larger version.

With one exception – the Highline School District bus facility near Des Moines Memorial Dr., S. 8th Ave. and SR 509 – the only industrial/airport industrial zones in Burien are in the Northeast Development Area (NERA) north of Sea-Tac International Airport.

Yet The B-Town Blog has received complaints suggesting the zoning restriction says adult entertainment facilities “shall be located” in the NERA – something, worry a few citizens, that means the city must have adult entertainment there.

Not only is such phrasing in the BMC non-existent, Burien Community Development Director Scott Greenberg said the restriction on adult entertainment facility location is in response to U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

The court has ruled in several cases that “the First Amendment protects many forms of controversial speech and expression,” notes First Amendment scholar David L. Hudson Jr. at www.firstamendmentcenter.org. “Protected expression” includes pornography and nude dancing.

While those decisions mandate that cities cannot ban adult entertainment facilities, cities are permitted to restrict their location through local zoning laws. Most cities limit them to industrial-zoned areas.

When Burien incorporated in 1993, the city continued using King County zoning designations. Then, in 2000, council members adopted the city’s own zoning regulations, Greenberg said.

“In 2003, when we created NERA, we had to add a new zoning designation that is now renamed Airport Industrial [AI],” he continued. “But the affected pieces of property have not changed.”

Restrictions on adult entertainment facilities prevent them from locating near schools, buildings for religious worship, single and multi-family homes, recreation facilities, community centers and public libraries, and other areas of general activity.

In addition, two or more adult businesses must be separated by 1,000 feet “so you couldn’t have several of them grouped together.

“In the 10 years that I’ve been here, we’ve had no applications and no proposals” for an adult entertainment facility in Burien,” Greenberg added.

“It’s not like it was when those things would pop up all over the place. It’s a non-issue at this time.”

Read through the proposed changes to the Burien Comp plan, outlined in the Planning Commission packet of Oct 12 (see pages 4 – 10, especially sections 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6). It raises many questions and concerns. What are the overall risks? Are there some hidden agendas that are going to end up costing everyone in Highline? What are the contingencies if the rosy scenarios turn out not to be true? Hopefully on Oct 26, the Planning Commission will ask some very hard questions, not just rubber-stamp the proposal.

First, these changes appear to give free reign to any public entity, such as the Port, to acquire land for any purpose anywhere in the City of Burien. Not just a traditional public purposes, but “any” purpose that meets the wishes of the public entity. Think about this. When property is bought, it goes off the tax rolls, reducing revenues to the Highline School District at a time when school revenue is already declining. Taking property off the tax rolls also makes it more difficult to issue future school construction bonds.

Second, one wonders if there’s some hidden agenda or side deal going on.

Usually, comp plans drive zoning. Usually, zoning is carefully structured so it is not in conflict with a comp plan. Here, the opposite seems to be the case: zoning is driving the Comp Plan. Isn’t this troubling? One wonders what else the Burien City Council was not informed of when it passed Ordinances 528 and 529 in Dec 2009.

528 is a comp plan amendment. It created two designations, AI and PR, and some other elements related to the Comp Plan. 529 specifically relates to NERA zoning. Note item 6, related to adult entertainment, and item 7, about cargo containers, as well as many other things.

Third, read the history section. “In 2003 the third runway …”. I’ve seen that type of language before. It reads just like the phony history and junk data the Port always uses to justify its goals and agendas. That paragraph is particularly odious because so much is missing.

For example, it completely ignores the reality that many residents still live in the area. Also it overlooks the reality of pollution in the Lora Lake area. Is this on purpose?

Wishful thinking won’t make the pollution magically disappear. So why surrender any mention of SEPA and EIS for the NERA area in the comp plan? If one does believe this is only about changes to a comp plan to make it comply with zoning (with no hidden agendas at all), one could ask what section of the zoning code does having SEPA and an EIS conflict with?

Wouldn’t nearby residents and the children and adults who use Moshier Field and who are at nearby Highline High School and the Sunnydale site like to know they have as much protection against air and water pollution as possible?

One also wonders what the real story is about secured sex offender housing and adult entertainment. Also, the Comp Plan has both zoning and design standards in place. Who will set design standards?

As bad as all this is, I can actually think of a worse aspect. There are persistent rumors Port staffers that a fourth runway would be north of 518. This could well be an east – west runway, and it would include property now a part of the City of Burien. By removing controls for buyout areas, the city appears to be smoothing the way for the Port to do this. The language removing SEPA and EIS would apply both to the Lora Lake contaminated area and to new buyout areas, such as the fourth runway site.

There are so many mysteries and unknowns in this Comp Plan revision. It deserves a great deal of scrutiny, citizen discussion and review about the risks, uncertainties and real long-term costs, impacts, beneficiaries and losers.

- Stuart Jenner

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of several articles focusing on economic development in the Highline area that will appear on The B-Town Blog in the next few weeks.

One issue that has elicited concern has to do with the city's revisions of the current Comprehensive Plan for the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA). We are doing our best to cover this from both sides, and we encourage our Readers to chime in with Comments below, or email us a Letter to the Editor for consideration of publication. We also encourage all concerned residents to speak up at the City Council and Planning Commission meetings, the schedule of which can be found on the city's website here.

The following post includes concerns submitted by area activist Stuart Jenner, added to our original story by Editor Scott Schaefer; Jenner's concerns appear in italics, indented, with a gray background:]

by Ralph Nichols

Burien Planning Commission members will review on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m., proposed amendments that would delete from the city’s comprehensive plan outdated policies for the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA).

This has a few local residents up in arms, however, fearful that in doing so Burien would surrender to the Port of Seattle control of both developments in this area, north of Sea-Tac International Airport, and environmental regulations there.

Some residents say that the language being stripped out of the Comp. Plan implies that lands owned by public entities (like the Port of Seattle) do not have to be developed in a manner consistent with City regulations.

The Port owns a number of properties in NERA – which is located within the Burien city limits – where it hopes to attract businesses that will support airport activities.

Some say that this plan for redevelopment “happened when the Port approached the City of Burien’s planning staff to consider some new business working arrangements.” These same residents also “wonder what kind of businesses the Port is planning to put in their neighborhood? This is a neighborhood that has significantly suffered from the development of the Port’s Third Runway. They are wondering what the Port has in store for them next.”

But proposed changes to the comprehensive plan in what appears to be a housekeeping measure will not exempt NERA from city zoning requirements on developers who build there.

Some claim that the changes to the Comprehensive Plan appear to exempt the Port from the City’s planning, development standards, health and safety regulations, modifications, demolition and relocation of structures permits.

Several city staff said whoever buys or builds on property there will still be required to comply with all applicable zoning laws – whether the owners and developers are public or private.

Some wonder if these developers will have to comply with the vision of the City of Burien, and will the residential members of the NERA neighborhood be adequately protected without the safeguards that existed in the Comprehensive Plan.

Likewise, state law permits no exemption for the Port or any other public agency from complying with the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA).

Previously, the City of Burien was involved in the Lora Lake Apartments, which was proclaimed as a toxic waste contaminated site. Some wonder if the City will just leave that up to the Port to take care of all of the SEPA compliance. According to some citizens, the Port has not always been very good at this. These citizens are concerned for the water quality of Miller Creek, which runs through the NERA neighborhood, helps recharge the Highline aquifer, and drains into Puget Sound.

Furthermore, public agencies are prohibited by state law from using public funds to buy property or invest in uses that have no public benefit. A potential non-public use of public funds by the Port is another concern of these citizens.

The comprehensive plan policies in question are being removed simply because they “aren’t consistent with the most recent planning efforts and zoning implementation” for NERA, said Senior Planner David Johanson.

Some citizens question how zoning and planning could have been put in place before addressing the intended limits on public entities in the Comprehensive Plan. Essentially, they wonder why this did not happen in the correct order according to the City’s rules.

“We’re removing that inconsistency, based on the planning efforts which include residential uses that were done in cooperation with the Port.”

Some citizens are wondering how these new residential uses will change the character of their existing neighborhood. They thought they were going to just get some new car dealerships over on SW 152nd. But what are they really going to get with this new cooperation from the Port?

Allowable land uses in NERA were modified by the city council in November 2009 – among other things easing restrictions on the use of residential property for homeowners living there – along with related zoning changes.

However, someone apparently made these zoning changes without first checking to see if they were consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.

These revisions were made over several weeks without extensive discussion and with no public controversy.

Some citizens say that they do not recall having gotten a mailed notice that this was happening. They simply don’t recall being notified about a hearing. Were there any hearings?

Since then, city staff found incompatibilities between the updated zoning regulations and older comprehensive plan requirements.

The proposed amendments are written for “compatible land use and economic diversification” in NERA, Johansen continued. “We don’t want just more retail in the city. We already have retail and residential. This is an opportunity to maybe diversify our economic base.”

What some citizens want to know is, what will this economic diversification look like and how will it impact their neighborhood? If it is not retail, light industry or the car dealers, what is it going to be? These citizens are not eager to have the NERA neighborhood become a dumping ground for businesses that no one wants, such as secured sex offender housing or adult entertainment. They already have the airport noise – what other nuisances will come with the new economic diversification? What type of image will this create for all of Burien? This is literally Burien’s front door and is even visible to people landing at the airport.

In addition to encouraging new commercial activity in the city, including airport-related businesses, more jobs for residents of Burien and the surrounding area are expected to be created.

Some citizens are asking what might this commercial and airport-related business and jobs look like and how will it benefit their neighborhood. They say their neighborhood has already “suffered the most significant damage from the Port and they have gotten very little in return from the Port.”

Des Moines is involved in a somewhat similar activity in planning with the Port for development of the Des Moines Creek Business Park south of Sea-Tac just west of Pacific Highway S.

Some citizens feel that if this process had been done in the correct sequence for a change to the Comprehensive Plan and if more city had done more public relations outreach on planning, they might have fewer questions about what is really happening here.

The policies proposed for deletion from the comprehensive plan “aren’t consistent with the most recent planning efforts and zoning implementation, and that’s why they’re being removed,” Johansen added.

Deleting these policies from the Comp Plan, the way this process was handled and the lack of public information that was available for citizens to look at are all cause for concern.

“We’re removing that inconsistency based on planning efforts done in cooperation with the Port and existing homeowners” in NERA.

These changes apply to all of Burien, not just NERA. Deleting one whole goal and nine policies from the Comprehensive Plan seems to be more than a housekeeping issue to these citizens. How much notification have all citizens been given? How much involvement was there? How much notification specifically to NERA residents and residents who live nearby NERA, including users of the nearby parks, schools, and bike and pedestrian trail nearby that will be connecting Puget Sound to Lake Washington?

Here are links to documents that are relevant to this issue (all are PDF files):

• Planning Commission Packet for Oct. 12, 2010
• Ordinance 528, which amends the city’s Comp. Plan
• Ordinance 529, which relates to zoning in NERA

[Coming next week: A closer look at SEPA in NERA.]

The Port of Seattle announced that it will start sampling and testing stormwater from the former Lora Lake Apartment complex in Burien this winter as part of a legal agreement with the Department of Ecology (Ecology).

Ecology is seeking public comment on this plan through Wednesday, Dec. 23rd, and residents interested in reviewing the proposal should click here.

The project, called an “Interim Action,” is part of the work the Port is required to perform to study contamination at the site, which housed a barrel-cleaning company in the 1940s and 50s and an auto-wrecking facility from roughly 1960 to 1981.

A 22-building apartment complex was built in 1987. The Port, which owns Sea-Tac Airport nearby, bought the property in 1998 and demolished six buildings within the airport’s Third Runway protection zone in 2007.

At one time, the 234 Lora Lake Apartments were affordable housing.

The remainder of the buildings were demolished just recently.

Environmental samples taken in preparation for that demolition showed higher than expected levels of contaminants from the pre-apartment complex activities at the site. Pollutants associated with the site’s former activities include petroleum products, dioxin, solvents and other contaminants.

The Port demolished only above-ground structures, and took measures – under Ecology oversight – to not disturb potentially contaminated soil.

Port consultants will collect stormwater samples during rainstorms, with a plan to collect sampls during up to 10 storms. The information will help Ecology determine whether the site requires special or additional stormwater controls or treatment. Polluted runoff – stormwater – is the leading threat to water quality in the state’s urban areas.

As we reported in August, the Port of Seattle wants to develop facilities for airport-compatible activities there, such as air cargo, food service and warehouses, and on other property it owns within Burien’s Northeast Planning Area north of the airport.

But the now-vacant lot is just inside the Burien city limits and several city council members hope this location will anchor economic development in the Northeast Planning Area that will generate additional sales tax and other revenue for the city. Possible land uses include an auto mall and a business park.

City Manager Mike Martin said recently that an interchange at the location, at 15001 Des Moines Memorial Drive, would increase the value of the Lora Lake site for business development.

It is also available for review at the Burien Public Library (400 SW 152nd St., 206-243-3490), as well as the Department of Ecology’s regional office in Bellevue – by appointment (425-649-7190 – 3190 160th Ave. SE).

A fact sheet on Lora Lake Apartments site is available at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0909175.pdf.

For technical questions or to comment on the plan, please contact David South, Ecology Site Manager, 425-649-7200; e-mail dsou461@ecy.wa.gov.

by Ralph Nichols

Burien long has wanted an interchange connecting State Route 518 with Des Moines Memorial Drive to improve access to businesses that, city officials hope, will move into the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA).

Now an interchange from SR 509 to NERA, located under flight paths from Sea-Tac International Airport north to S. 138th St., is also under consideration.

Burien City Manager Mike Martin said recently that any interchange on SR 509 would provide access to the Northeast Redevelopment Area.

“No one has agreed to a 509 interchange,” Martin stressed. “This is just a concept. There are only draft plans (at the city) now.” And it’s not on any to-do list at the Washington State Department of Transportation or the Puget Sound Regional Council.

Both the Port of Seattle, which owns much of the property in the area, and the city anticipate business and commercial development here within a few years. Business parks, technology and light industry, and auto sales – perhaps an auto mall, to which dealers now on 1st Ave. S. would relocate, all could play a role in the economic development of the NERA.

“This property has been blighted by the second runway and now the third runway,” Martin said. “What we are doing (by planning for a new interchange) is trying to make NERA more accessible so we can put this property back into use.”

He added that the area “is large enough to accommodate small box stores and retailers of construction materials.” But the market will determine what kind of businesses locate here. In the meantime, “we need to prepare the area to be ready for certain types of activities.”

The cost of a new interchange, including planning, design and construction, has yet to be determined, Martin said. Most of the financing probably would come from federal and state funds.

So far, he’s talked with local state legislators, “who have received the idea very warmly.”

by Ralph Nichols

Burien City Council members were presented with dismal sales tax figures from City Manager Mike Martin at the beginning of their meeting last Monday, Oct. 5th.

Through July, the city’s sales tax revenue for the year to date was down 16.2 percent compared with the same time frame in 2008, Martin reported. For July 2009, compared with July 2008, it was down 19.7 percent.

The data reflect a 14.3 percent decline in retail trade in the city, a 47 percent decline in construction-related purchases, and a 10.6 percent in accommodations and food service.

But this does not make Burien unusual. “We’re pretty much on par with our neighbors,” he observed.

NORTHEAST REDEVELOPMENT AREA
Council members heard a presentation by Scott Greenberg, Community Development Director, on proposed revisions for the city’s Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA) that, if adopted, will amend the Burien Comprehensive Plan and certain zoning designations within this area.

The NERA, located north of Sea-Tac International Airport between 8th Ave. S., S. 138th St., and Des Moines Memorial Dr., is an area that both the city and Port of Seattle, which owns much of the property there, hope is developed for business and commercial activity.

Alternative 1 in this proposal would change the existing Special Planning Area 4 designation to Airport Industrial and Professional Residential. In both areas, the current two-acre minimum for redevelopment would be eliminated.

Potential uses, according to Greenberg, include technological, light manufacturing, light industrial and offices. Auto sales and other commercial uses would be allowed in the south paort of the Airport Industrial zone.

The Professional Residential would allow for new single-family developments as well as small offices, retail uses and art studios.

Alternative 2 would include the same zoning changes, but would not include auto sales and other commercial uses.

Alternative 3 would leave the current NERA zoning unchanged.

These proposals will be introduced at the Tuesday, Oct. 13th meeting of the Burien Planning Commission at 7 p.m. in City Hall. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, a joint hearing with a hearing examiner and the planning commission will consider the proposed comprehensive plan amendments and proposed zoning changes.

Liz Ockwell, an assistant city planner, detailed for council members proposed zoning code amendments relating to land use, garages, slope, parking and landscaping for new developments.

Map of the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA)

The City of Burien, in partnership with the Port of Seattle (operators of Sea-Tac International Airport), is studying the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA), located north of the recently constructed third runway.

The study will identify ways to help property owners transition their properties from a mixture of vacant, residential, public, and small commercial land uses to uses that are compatible with operations at Sea-Tac International Airport.  The NERA redevelopment strategy and master plan will evaluate options that are flexible and respond to market conditions, as well as propose ways to guide long-term redevelopment in the NERA.  This effort will build upon past planning and environmental studies.

The public is invited to attend a meeting on Thursday, October 23, 2008 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm at the cafetorium in the Cedarhurst Elementary School (611 South 132nd Street in Burien – map below) to share comments and perspectives related to strategies that are developing for the NERA.

The evening’s discussion will cover the following topics:

• Market and economic conditions
• Land uses – community and airport compatibility
• Transportation
• Utilities and infrastructure
• Environmental considerations

The consultant team working on the NERA strategy and master plan recently completed the existing conditions analysis, which included identifying the location of Miller Creek, adjacent wetlands and their protective buffers. A detailed market analysis also was prepared. The team has also been working with City of Burien and Port of Seattle staff to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges in the NERA planning area, as well as to identify potential redevelopment scenarios.  The results of this work to date will be summarized at the October 23, 2008.

If you have questions or would like to obtain additional information, you are encouraged to contact consultant team member Kristen Clem at Otak (phone number: 425-739-7959).

You can also send an email to the project email address: NERA@burienwa.gov or check the City’s website at www.burienwa.gov.

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