Burien begins state‑mandated update to critical areas ordinance, schedules consultant briefings and public review

The Burien Planning Commission on June 11 began a yearlong update of the city's critical areas ordinance (CAO), saying the review will incorporate the state's best available science and aim to maintain "no net loss of ecological function" for wetlands, streams, floodplains, aquifer recharge areas and geologically hazardous slopes.

Amanda McIntyre, a planner with Burien's Department of Community Development, told the commission the work responds to the Growth Management Act and a required periodic review: "Critical areas are environmentally sensitive areas that require protection due to their ecological importance and or public safety risk." She said the CAO was last updated in 2015 and that the city must complete the update by the end of the year.

The update will analyze five state-defined critical-area categories and how they intersect across the city, McIntyre said, and will rely on a consultant team called Facet (formerly the Watershed Company) to provide a best‑available‑science crosswalk. The city plans consultant presentations on June 25 (best available science) and July 23 (draft code audit and gap analysis); staff said a public draft is expected in the…