The March 24 Burien City Council Meeting began with a report by Green Burien and Urban Forestry. Green Burien is now part of the city’s comprehensive plan.
Green Burien (GB) is working on a plan to increase the tree canopy cover in Burien to 40%. The intent is to engage private and public land. In 2024, GB put in 1939 plants. The goal is to plant 40,000 trees. However, due to the federal funding freeze totaling $415,000, several programs and projects are currently unfunded.
There are 20 organizations involved in Green Burien, including private entities. The largest funding block is a grant of just over $500,000, and it makes up 50% of the budget.
In 2024, there were 26 major tree removal permits, 28 minor, and 24 vegetation permits. There were 18 violations, which brought in $100,000 in fines. Burien.News interviewed a Burien resident who was penalized $4,000 for taking down a tree that had been dead for three years and was leaning over a neighbor’s home. As with all cases, the violation was reported by a neighbor.
In total, 127 trees were removed, and 55 were replanted in 2024.
The council then moved on to Council Member Reports.
Several of the CMs attended the National Cities gathering in D.C., and they reported that cities across the nation are facing cuts from federal funding. Some cuts are small, a few thousand dollars, but others are experiencing millions in cuts. They noted that Burien is not being treated as a special case in the freeze.
City Manager Adolfo Bailon reported that Coffee with the City Manager has been well received and will continue. Next event will be in April.
Councilmember Alex Andrade, a small business owner in town, asked about the minimum wage status. She stated that she is receiving many questions by local businesses on what to do with the new minimum wage laws. Bailon replied that there are now two competing laws: one passed by the city council, the other by voters in the recent special election. Therefore, businesses do not know what to do regarding direction. The city itself cannot comment due to pending legal action. So, for now, Burien is telling the businesses to seek their own legal counsel.
Four public commenters covered two issues.
A Green Burien forest director and a Big Picture student/volunteer requested that the council to ask Highline Schools why they decided to abruptly cancel the urban forest restoration contracts near Big Picture and Choice Schools. The project’s grant funding was worth $100k, so the cancellation is suspect. If the forest is removed for a future construction project, it would negatively impact the 40% forestation goal.
Another two speakers asked the council to act on Burien’s new minimum wage law.
The City Council then reviewed and re-appointed two members for the Burien Airport Committee (BAC), Brian Davis, BAC Vice Chair, and Karen Veloria. Each shared shared their priorities. They were very much in alignment. Concerns over health risks, making sure Burien is receiving just compensation from the Port of Seattle, the need to continue to grow deeper and broader relationships with all the players at the state, local and Port level were at the top of the list for both. There was also agreement that we cannot have an adversarial relationship with the Port. Burien needs to get its needs and concerns met by working with, not against, the Port. However, firmness is required to stand up for Burien and its people.
“We need to establish a lot of relationships at city, Port, other cities, the business communities, and those who live under the flight path,” said Davis.
Davis also commented that the Port’s Seatac Airport Master Plan (SAMP), did not take into account the impact on communities around them. They limited it to only the airport itself, which is not reasonable, presuming the impact is only on the airport.
Karen Veloria lives under that flight path in Boulevard Park. She reported that the packages offered by the Port to mitigate the impact have failed. There are noise issues, mold issues, and other negative impacts. Ms. Veloria also wants to explore how the airport benefits the community, like jobs other than hospitality. We also need to educate folks on the negative health impacts, like a higher asthma incidence.
The two were unanimously appointed.
The council then reviewed Future Agenda items. Mayor Schilling noted that many of the items have already been achieved. The number one issue on the agenda, introduced a year ago, needs focus, according to the mayor. This item deals with a desire to encourage cafes and community gathering spaces in neighborhoods. This was not advanced at the state level, so the city will now take this up for Burien. This item seeks to allow more places like the Three Tree Point Store.
There was significant discussion on the chicken ordinance. This would require additional conversation and expanding regulations to include small livestock.
Schilling then asked each CM to name their three priorities for the Future Agenda list.
