Burien Planning Commission is holding a Public Hearing on Feb 28 at 5:30 pm as they deliberate rezoning that will reach far beyond a single Burien neighborhood. Citywide changes are being considered, based on a temporary site.
This is an Open Letter to the Burien Planning Commission from Kennedy parent Wendy Butzerin. She will present it tonight, Feb 28, 2024:
[NOTE FROM EDITOR: Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Burien-News or Daniel Media.]
Good Evening Commissioners,
I am a Kennedy Mom, and I am speaking about the lack of community outreach regarding the Tiny Homes Village Proposal and the process of rezoning. Tonight you will be deliberating code amendment recommendations for the Burien City Council. However, these changes will affect the entire city, not just the immediate City Light site project.
Without careful consideration, any land use modifications to accommodate this Temporary Emergency Use Village will permanently impact public safety and residential property values.
At the Feb 15th meeting, several Kennedy community members spoke on this topic. However, there were no public comments from other adjacent neighbors. What happened?
On Nov 27, 2023, the Burien City Council voted to place 35 pallet shelters adjacent to a school within a residential neighborhood, but they agreed that informing the neighbors was an important consideration. According to that meeting’s minutes, “City of Burien staff were directed to begin neighborhood outreach – immediately.”
However, the city of Burien waited until Feb 14th to mail out notices, and the only properties notified of this zoning change were those within 500 feet of the proposed site. If this zoning change will affect ALL of Burien, why did only those select neighbors and not the whole city receive notice?
Kennedy Catholic High School generously offered to host a community forum, but there was never a community meeting planned.
Why is the City of Burien justifying rezoning an entire city based on a single Temporary Emergency Housing project that is only meant to last for one year? Why not create a “variance” instead of a blanket zoning change?
Yes, new RCW 35A.21.430 passed in 2021 calls for zoning changes for cities like Burien to “not prohibit transitional and supportive housing,” HOWEVER, the guidelines ALSO include nuances to help cities like Burien protect the safety of the community at large.
Finally, as mentioned by Senior Planner Alex Hunt, Burien only needs to “demonstrate capacity” for 1433 new units of affordable and transitional housing” by 2044. According to Mayor Schilling in a recent article in the Burien News, Burien has already approved 657 units. This means we have ANOTHER 20 YEARS to show we have room for the remaining 776 units.
What’s the big hurry? Planning Commissioners, please take the time to create well-thought-out recommendations that will serve ALL of Burien.
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