The city of Burien has notified the Boundary Review Board of King County that it is withdrawing its current request to annex the southern portion of the North Highline unincorporated area.

Burien officials plan to re-file an annexation request later this year after completion of a new round of negotiations with King County and the cities of SeaTac and Seattle regarding the proposed annexation boundary, according to Mike Martin, Burien's city manager.

"We're withdrawing for procedural reasons, and we absolutely intend to pursue annexation," said Martin.

In May 2008, the Burien City Council authorized submittal of the "Notice of Intent" to annex part of North Highline. Burien's Notice of Intent was filed with the Boundary Review Board in late June after approval of new countywide planning policies allowing the annexation request to proceed. The city of Seattle and the North Highline Fire District challenged the timing of Burien's filing on legal grounds.

"The city of Seattle said Burien filed before the new rules were in place and, therefore, the application to annex wasn't valid," said.

Burien officials became concerned about wasting time and taxpayer money in a superior court battle over an issue that could be easily remedied.

"In the interest of having the community and the Boundary Review Board focus on the merits of annexation rather than upon procedural and legal issues, we believe that it is in the best interest of the parties for the city to withdraw its current Notice of Intent," said Martin.

The delay in the annexation process allows the cities and county to meet to discuss substantive issues related to annexation, including providing adequate urban services within annexed portions of North Highline and any remaining unincorporated area.

"There is a requirement in the rules that the parties must meet and talk," said Martin. "In the brief Seattle submitted to the Boundary Review Board, they said Burien hasn't made an effort and doesn't want to talk to them."

In fact, Martin said that Burien had been working to get Seattle to the table for almost a year to try to resolve issues, but Seattle has not been responsive. He noted that Seattle's brief indicates they now want to talk to Burien.

"For whatever reason, they've changed their mind now and appear willing to talk," said Martin. "We wish for the sake of the North Highline residents Seattle would have come to that conclusion sooner, but better late than never."

As of the Aug. 27 press deadline for this story, Martin indicated Burien would be writing to Seattle to signal Burien's willingness to meet.

Now, for the first time, Burien is able to consider the specific and detailed concerns of the North Highline Fire District that were filed with the Boundary Review Board. The North Highline Fire District's primary concern is that Burien's proposed annexation area shrinks the district's future tax revenues by approximately 42 percent while only shaving its service area by approximately 30 percent, which could hurt the level of fire and emergency medical services. In addition, district officials were worried about the way in which annexation would create illogical service areas that would also negatively impact service.

While the city of Burien has no authority over the current or future operations of the fire district, "we will encourage the North Highline and Burien/Normandy Park fire districts to resolve their differences in the interest of providing quality services in the areas they serve," said Martin.

The city has offered to start negotiations immediately, with the goal of reaching a successful resolution of issues by the end of the year.

"Our city values trust, integrity, communication and collaboration," said Martin. "It is in this spirit that we are ready to take one step back in order to help our neighbors in North Highline move many steps forward."

The notice of withdrawal of Burien's annexation request is not discussed in the upcoming issue of the city's newsletter, the Burien City News, as it had already gone to press at the time the action was taken.