It was standing room only at the Burien shoreline advisory meeting on Feb. 9 when nearly 200 angry shoreline residents protested some of the policies in the city's proposed shoreline master program.

The Shoreline Advisory Committee and the city were criticized for how they handled the meetings as well as the regulations proposed in the new Shoreline Master Program.

"I came to say to the committee of Burien, what you are doing, what you are proposing, is wrong. It's sneaky, it's mean-spirited and it reminds me of a group of children who have gotten into an unwatched bowl of candy," said Margie Berrinson. "The committee, all of you know in your heart that it is wrong to go to someone else's property and take what does not belong to you.
"This is theft. You can call it city work, you can call it anything you want but when it's my property and your goal is to end up with me not owning it, that's wrong. You should be ashamed."

The shoreline program has been worked on since 2008, but many people at the meeting said this was the first they had heard of it.
"My guess is that from the raise of hands before that not a lot of people knew about it, I didn't know about it. So if you were going to have a public hearing, it was poorly done," said Jason Sparks.

The biggest concerns of the attendees were public access and the rights of shoreline owners and how they would be affected by the new regulations.
The new program says the city "should seek opportunities to develop new public access areas...Highest Priority should be placed on reaches without existing public access."

Two shoreline areas in Burien without public access are Lake Burien and Three Tree Point.
Last year, Lake Burien residents fought against the rezoning of land owned by the Ruth Dykeman Children's Center along Lake Burien, until the center assured them public access to the lake was not in their best interests either.
A portion of land owned by Dykeman was rezoned single family residential. Under Burien zoning code a public park is one of the allowed uses in single-family zoned land. The rest of the shoreline around Lake Burien has been developed; the land owned by Dykeman is the only area available for public access to the lake.

Lake Burien Steward Don Warren declined to comment on the shoreline program upon advice from his lawyer.
Anne Stout asked the city why they don't utilizing the resources they already have, and look for more public access on already owned public lands.

Several people at the meeting who live along the shore of Three Tree Point were concerned about language suggesting if their home was damaged by 50 percent or more of its value they would not be able to rebuild.
The current setback for houses along the shore is 20 feet from the ordinary high water mark. In the updated Shoreline Master Program being worked on the setback would become 65 feet from the ordinary high water mark, making most of the houses along Three Tree Point non-conforming structures. The current language in the master program made it unclear as to how a house being completely rebuilt on the shoreline would be treated.

One man said to the planning committee at 65 feet back from the water his house would be into his neighbor's house.
Burien senior planner David Johanson admitted the language was unclear for non-conforming structures. He said homeowners would be allowed to rebuild within the footprint of the old structure, following certain new guidelines.

Burien, along with other cities in the state with shoreline, received a $117,000 grant from the state to update their master program. Burien is supposed to have the plan approved by the city council and submitted to the state by the end of June.
Advisory committee members admitted to wanting to get this process finished quickly, and on the Burien Web site it says the update of the Shoreline Master Program is nearly complete.

While the state's deadline is in June, Johanson said it was very likely, and necessary, the city could get an extension.
A full copy of the Shoreline Master Program can be read at the Burien Library. Documents and minutes from prior meetings can also be found on the Burien City Web site.

The next Shoreline Advisory Committee meeting is on Feb. 23 in the Miller Room on the third floor of Burien City Hall.