The City of Burien is in the process of updating the rules and regulations related to the shorelines in Burien. The Planning Commission currently is formulating a recommendation to the City Council on the draft Shoreline master Program (SMP). Submittal by the Commission is expected in the next few weeks.

We, Citizens of the City of Burien, request that the Burien City Council grant an extension of at least 6 months from the date of this request for submittal by the Planning Commission of the draft Shoreline Master Program to the Council for the following reasons:

1. Insufficient Time for Consideration by Commission
The Planning Commission received the draft Shoreline master Program in November 2009. Additional time is needed for the Commission to fully understand the Program and its impact on the Citizens of Burien.

2. Insufficient Participation Process
There has not been adequate opportunity for involvement of citizens most directly affected by the Shoreline Master Program in development of the draft document released in November 2009. The Shoreline Advisory Committee only had two shoreline residents as members. There has been only one public hearing on the SMP, held January 12, 2010. There are no further public hearings scheduled by the Planning Commission prior to sending the draft to City Council. However, a large number of concerned Citizens of Burien have voluntarily attended regular Commission Meetings and commented on the draft document during the Public Comment Period. This huge turnout indicates the concern of the communities most directly affected by the SMP and the need for more time to allow adequate input into the plan prior to submission to the City Council. This requested extension will permit the Commission to schedule additional public hearings and all Citizens of Burien to have time to fully understand and respond to the updated Program.

3. Insufficient Communication Process
Shoreline property owners in Burien are the Citizens most directly affected by the proposed updated SMP. A policy of direct mailing should have been established to notify all affected property owners of all meetings being held on this subject. This was not done, as evidenced by the huge number of Citizens who are just now becoming aware of this process. Those Citizens who have attended informational meetings on the SMP and signed the registers were assured they would be notified of future meetings. Specific examples are meetings in July 2009 and November 2009. Of these, only those who signed-in at the July meeting were notified by mail for the one public hearing on January 12, 2010. Those on the November list were not. In addition, there has been no opportunity for discussion between Citizens and the Planning Commssion about the draft SMP document. The ability to speak for three minutes at a Planning Commission or City Council meeting while getting no feedback of any kind does not constitute discussion in the eyes of the many affected Citizens who have signed this petition. The Public Comment Summary prepared by the Planning Commission is a good tool for organizing the many issues raised during public comment portions of the meetings, but is not an effective or efficient communication tool. This requested extension would allow time for more meaningful communication between the Planning Commission and concerned Citizens of Burien.