City of Burien Comprehensive Plan Updates

Homeownership Demonstration Ordinance

Seattle King County REALTORS® have requested the Planning Commission recommend to the City Council, and the City Council adopt, an ordinance making the Affordable Housing  “demonstration” code provisions (regarding affordable housing homeownership) a permanent ordinance in the city code. As a result of these efforts, we believe the city is likely to do so.

Boulevard Park

As Burien updates its comprehensive plan, the city is also contemplating up-zones and significant capital investments in proximity to significant residential corridors in the Boulevard Park area. The area presents rather unique challenges owing to its proximity to the SeaTac International Airport flightpath. The continuing challenges of noise, and making redevelopment projects pencil, is not a new issue for the city. So, REALTORS® have emphasized the importance of ensuring the success of other portions of the comprehensive plan update if the City is to not only plan for, but also accommodate, housing that is affordable to all economic segments of the population, as required by RCW 36.70A.020 (4).

Transit Oriented Development (TOD), especially in the Ambaum Corridor

REALTORS® have encouraged the city to focus significant (as opposed to modest) additional new density in the Ambaum Corridor, and to facilitate the construction of new Transit Oriented Development.

Even though it appears the greatest amount of new density (for purposes of satisfying the City’s current 20-year growth targets) is likely to occur in the areas of Downtown and 1^st Avenue, we have recommended the city re-consider the longer-term impacts of only allowing very modest density increases for TOD in the Ambaum corridor, for three reasons:

• The growth planning that will be completed by the end of this year is focused primarily on the current 20-year planning horizon.
• However, whatever residential and commercial structures are built during that 20-year timeframe will likely have a functional life, and an economic life, of 50–70 years. It is really a matter of common sense: very rarely, if ever, is a newly constructed building torn down just 20 years after it was built. Typically, it will remain in place for an additional 30 to 50 years.
• So, allowing only midrise structures (that make less than optimally efficient use of development opportunities) in the Ambaum Corridor now might result in a significant “opportunity cost” for the city when the next statutorily mandated major update of the comprehensive plan is required in 2034 based on revised/higher growth targets, and again in 2044.

TOD zoning that is too modest now may create future “missed opportunities for new housing” for decades.