The City of Burien continues its preparations to annex the North Highline "South Annexation Area" as approved by voters in August 2009. A required step is adoption of zoning for the area. The Burien City Council soon will be looking at a proposal to convert the existing King County zoning designations to City of Burien designations. A more formal review of these designations will occur as part of the City's scheduled planning process in 2010 and 2011.

The Burien Planning Commission took its first look at the proposed conversion on Nov. 10th. The commission conducted a public hearing on the proposed conversion on Nov. 24th. The commission then made a recommendation to the City Council, which will take its first look at the proposed conversion on Jan. 25th.

Information on the proposed conversion, and zoning maps showing current County zoning and proposed City zoning are available online or by contacting Chip Davis, planner, at (206) 248-5501 or by Email.

August Update  

North Highline residents cast ballots in the August 18 General Election solidly in favor of joining the City of Burien.  The annexation measure received 56 percent support, well over the required 50 percent of those North Highline voters who cast ballots in the election.  The annexation won’t become official until early in 2010, most likely in March.

City staff during the next several months will be working on transitional issues, such as planning and zoning in the annexation area and determining the size of staff needed to serve North Highline.  The contract with the King County Sheriff’s Office taking in the new City area will need to be renegotiated. Other special districts serving North Highline including sewer, water, fire and schools will not be affected by the annexation.

The annexation will add some 14,100 people to the City, making Burien’s total population about 46,000. The increase makes Burien the 21st largest municipality in Washington.

Information to download:

• Map of Annexation Area
• Click here  for a pdf version of the Frequently Asked Questions.
• Crime data in proposed area
• Information in Spanish 

• Information in Vietnamese   

If you have further questions, please email us or call the Burien Annexation Info Line at (206) 436-5555 and a staff member will respond as soon as possible to address any questions you may have.