Burien Residents Seek to Overturn Ordinance

Under the leadership of Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling, and with the help of a skilled planning staff, the city of Burien not only met the minimum requirements of State comprehensive planning legislation, but the city council also stepped up to address the housing crisis that has produced out-sized impacts on the City of Burien. The council’s action was taken in the face of strong contentious objections that came late in the process, largely from residents of legacy neighborhoods. Ordinance No. 868 passed on June 30, 2025.

Because Burien’s new ordinance allows more housing than the minimum mandated by the state, opponents have now called for the City Manager to be reprimanded, and for the Planning Director and the Senior Planner to be fired. They are also pointing fingers at the Puget Sound Regional Council, objecting to the costs of technical studies required to change the plan, and characterizing the up-zones as unnecessary. In the face of contentious opposition, Seattle King County REALTORS® remains committed to continuing to advocate for middle housing, ADUs, townhomes, permitting reforms, and investments in basic infrastructure needed to improve the opportunities for median income households to afford median home prices, and for renters with less than median income to be able to afford median rents.