City of Burien

The City of Burien and Discover Burien are announcing the launch of two new resources to support local restaurants and retail businesses.

The Peter Western Bridge will open to vehicle and pedestrian traffic on December 21, 2020 at noon.

The City of Burien is proud to announce a series of holiday inspired events to celebrate the season in the second annual “It’s a Wonderful Burien.” Winter lights will illuminate Burien’s Town Square Park every night in December, encouraging people to visit downtown Burien for restaurant take-out, shopping, and seasonal experiences hosted by the City of Burien and community partners.

The City of Burien will host an online community forum to discuss the draft results of the city’s first Housing Action Plan. Please join us to learn more about the city’s housing needs, and proposed strategies and actions to build more housing for all of Burien’s residents.

La ciudad de Burien organizará un foro comunitario en línea para analizar los resultados del borrador del primer Plan de acción de viviendas de la ciudad. Participe para obtener más información sobre las necesidades de vivienda de la ciudad, además de las estrategias y las medidas propuestas para construir más viviendas para todos los residentes de Burien.

Thành Phố Burien sẽ tổ chức một diễn đàn cộng đồng trực tuyến để thảo luận về kết quả dự thảo của Kế Hoạch Hành Động vì Nhà Ở đầu tiên của thành phố. Mời quý vị tham gia cùng chúng tôi để tìm hiểu thêm về nhu cầu nhà ở của thành phố cùng các chiến lược, hành động được đề xuất để xây dựng thêm nhà ở cho toàn bộ cư dân của Burien.

City of Burien leaders are urging community members to follow public health guidance this fall and winter. South King County, which includes Burien, are already seeing growing numbers of people contracting the COVID-19 virus. As people spend more time inside and the holidays approach, Burien leaders are concerned that there will be a surge in new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

Los líderes de la ciudad de Burien instan a los miembros de la comunidad a seguir las pautas de salud pública durante este otoño e invierno. En el sur del condado de King, que incluye a Burien, crece la cantidad de personas que contraen el virus de la COVID-19. Dado que las personas pasan más tiempo dentro de sus hogares y se aproximan las fiestas, los líderes de Burien están preocupados de que haya un aumento de nuevos casos, internaciones y muertes.

The City of Burien is joining a nationwide alliance called Artists Sunday™ to make November 29, 2020 the biggest art shopping day of the year.

Burien is allocating $300,000 from federal CARES Act funding to child care providers to pay for financial assistance to families who need child care.

The SW Cove Point Road Stormwater Erosion Mitigation Project construction is set to begin on Wednesday, October 14 and will run through November 10, 2020.

The City of Burien has issued a Call for Artists for the 2021 Burien Gallery Program. The application deadline is November 5, 2020.

Artist-designed wraps have been installed on 10 new traffic signal box art installations throughout Burien. This is the second round of installations, bringing the total number of traffic signal box art to 20.

Burien small businesses can apply for $5,000 to mitigate impacts of COVID-19.

The City of Burien is partnering with Highline Public Schools and Comcast to connect up to 1,500 eligible Highline students in Burien with free internet for 12 months.

King County Wastemobile will be at Burien Fred Meyer from September 18–20.

The Burien City Council is hosting a special council meeting on September 14, 2020 from 6:30–8:30 p.m. on the topic of public safety. The meeting will be hosted on Zoom. Community members are invited to speak in small group roundtable discussions at the meeting.

The Highline Heritage Museum and City of Burien are launching a project to gather the history of the building known as Chelsea Park Elementary School/ Highline Community Center/ Burien Community Center/ and the Burien Annex.

In compliance with the Washington State’s “Safe Start” plan, the following events are canceled or converted into virtual events through the rest of the year.

The City of Burien will be demolishing the Burien Community Center Annex, located at 425 SW 144th Street between August and October. The City of Burien selected Construction Group International (CGI) LLC through a competitive bid process to implement the demolition of the buildings. The projected cost of the project is $345,400. Funds are being transferred from other park capital projects and the City’s capital reserve fund to pay for the project.

The City of Burien is hosting an Affordable Housing Forum as part of the development of a Housing Action Plan.

The City of Burien is distributing 16,000 free cloth face coverings (masks) to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Burien.

As part of the City of Burien’s commitment to improving access to policymaking and government services to all Burien residents, the City of Burien is pleased to offer Spanish interpretation during every virtual City Council meeting.

The City of Burien is offering a free webinar on July 9, 2020 at noon on the topic of Burien’s tree code and urban forestry program.

The City of Burien has made grant funding available to support small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Grants will be made in amounts up to $5,000 and will be awarded to qualifying businesses. Funding is limited and applications will close July 13, 2020.

New penalties are now in effect for the possession and discharge of illegal fireworks in Burien. A new “social host” ordinance is also now in effect, which places responsibility for the discharge fireworks on to the property owner where discharge of fireworks occurs.

The City of Burien is an inclusive and welcoming city and we want to strongly declare that acts of hate or intimidation based on someone’s identity have no place in our community.

On June 24, the Burien Planning Commission will discuss flood code updates, housing needs assessment, and future housing action plan.

This Friday, June 19, 2020, communities across the country will commemorate end of African American slavery in the U.S. during Juneteenth celebrations and actions. The City of Burien encourages our community to observe Juneteenth locally.

The Highline Heritage Museum and City of Burien are teaming up to document the stories of our community’s experience during COVID-19. The “Burien Pandemic Story Project” aims to document the stories, photos, and other artifacts of community member’s experiences during the pandemic.

On June 4, 2020, the City of Burien will host a panel discussion with local development professionals to discuss development issues in Burien. Panelists will discuss the general development climate and market in Burien, permitting and zoning issues, and how to increase affordability in new housing.

The City of Burien is announcing several new policies designed to help our business community during these uncertain economic times including an outdoor dining program and B&O tax referral.

Message from Burien Police Chief Theodore A. Boe on the death of George Floyd.

The City of Burien will be closing all public facilities and services for four days in 2020.

Troy Smithmeyer has been selected as the Burien Police Department’s next captain.

The Burien Community Center and Moshier Community Art Center are currently closed, but the City of Burien’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services (PaRCS) department continues to serve the community in a virtual format. Weekly virtual programs and virtual events are being added to the City of Burien website and Burien PaRCS Facebook page.

In compliance with the Washington State’s “Safe Start” plan, City of Burien and partners are postponing or canceling certain summer events in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

A new business license system launches May 21, 2020. In order to have time to successfully launch the business licensing system, no new business licenses will be processed May 8–20.

April 22, 2020 is the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. While we cannot gather for an Earth Day neighborhood cleanup or tree planning, there are still many things we can do at home to celebrate.

The City of Burien is seeking artists to share their artwork with the community on signal boxes around Burien.

Everyone, even people who are young and healthy, is urged to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19. If you must go out, stay at least six feet apart from others. This includes in our parks and at the beach. Staying home and avoiding all non-essential contact with others is the best way to stay healthy and keep others healthy.

The Burien City Council issued a proclamation denouncing stigma and bias related to COVID-19. The proclamation calls out the discrimination Asian community members have faced during the COVID-19 outbreak.

April 1, 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the annexation of North Burien and Boulevard Park (southern North Highline) neighborhoods to the city of Burien.

With social distancing and stay home orders in effect, the City of Burien encourages you to celebrate Arbor Day right in your own back yard.

For our elders and other vulnerable community members, and for the health care workers and others on the front lines, please do your part to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

In order to protect the health and safety of grocery and retail workers, the Burien City Council has temporarily suspended the plastic bag ban and paper bag fees.

As the COVID-19 outbreak in Washington continues to evolve, the City of Burien recognizes the substantial impacts to our local business community.

Burien playground equipment, park restrooms, and sports courts will be closed starting March 23, 2020 as part of the City of Burien’s continued response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Burien parks and trails will remain open, but community members are directed to follow social distancing guidelines.

NEWS RELEASE: Garmon Newsom II has been selected as the new city attorney for the City of Burien.

We are faced with an unprecedented crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to harm our community unless we all work together to stop the spread. As your elected leaders, we are acting swiftly to provide a safe and healthy environment for our residents, and staff are working long hours to coordinate and advocate for the right resources for Burien.

In support of State and County directives and our community’s public health, the City of Burien is closing recreation programs and the Burien Community Center and Moshier Art Center.

The City of Burien is adopting emergency procedures for upcoming Council meetings and advisory board meetings following Public Health - Seattle & King County's recommendations to promote and practice “social distancing,” increasing the physical distance between people to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

NEWS RELEASE: City Manager Brian J. Wilson has declared a proclamation of emergency for Burien, Washington, due to public health impacts of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). The proclamation supports measures to be taken to protect public health, safety and welfare within the city.

The City of Burien is offering, in partnership with the Small Business Development Center and StartZone, a workshop dedicated to addressing important topics a small business owner should be aware of as they enter or renew a commercial lease. Rich Shockley of the SBDC at Highline College will guide you through understanding the basics of commercial leasing.

In conjunction with National Invasive Species Awareness Week, the City of Burien hosting is two events to raise awareness about the importance of native plants and invasive plant removal.

On November 14, 2019, a group of Washington counties and cities, including the City of Burien and joined by several transit and environmental groups, filed a lawsuit calling for I-976 to be halted from going into effect. On November 27, 2019, the King County Superior Court barred I-976 from going into effect while the lawsuit is pending. On February 12, 2020, the court rejected most of the arguments Seattle, King County, and others made that I-976 was unconstitutional, however it did not rule on the City of Burien’s claim that the measure illegally impaired Burien’s bond contracts.

NEWS RELEASE: Starting January 1, 2021, a new law goes into effect restricting the use of single-use plastic food serviceware in Burien.

NEWS RELEASE: On January 28, 2020, Craig Pierce Tweney was convicted of assault in the fourth degree for his attack on Mayor Jimmy Matta in 2018.

Nominate a person or organization for 2020 Citizen of the Year!

Burien City Council directed the City Manager to extend the leases for tenants of the Burien Annex Building until the end of July 2020. The City will conduct repairs to address immediate health and safety issues.

The City of Burien is preparing for extreme cold and wet weather.

NEWS RELEASE: Burien City Council voted to elect Jimmy Matta to serve a second, two-year term as mayor and Krystal Marx for a one-year term as deputy mayor.

City Council directed the City Manager to authorize testing for pollutants in the Annex immediately at January 6, 2020 meeting.

The City of Burien is partnering with Ventures to provide a series of FREE Business Basics classes for aspiring and existing Burien businesses.

Want to serve your community and help shape local laws and policy? Do you have expertise to share? Consider applying for one of the nine open positions.