The Burien Planning Commission made some dramatic changes to the proposed Shoreline Master Program at the March 23 meeting. They raised the trigger requiring a destroyed non-conforming structure to meet new vegetation buffer standards from 50 percent to 75 percent.

The 50 percent threshold has been a contentious number for shoreline homeowners, many of who will see their houses become non-conforming if new setbacks are passed.

Planning Commission Chair Joe Fitzgibbon proposed the percentage increase, saying he wanted to give flexibility to homeowners.

If 75 percent is used in the SMP passed by the city council, it will leave a disparity between the SMP and the zoning code. 50 percent is the number used in the zoning code for non-conforming structures, and was originally used in the SMP for consistency.

Planning Commissioner Rebecca McInteer was the only commissioner opposed to the change. She said there was value in consistency.

In the proposed SMP new building setbacks along the shoreline of the Puget Sound would become 65 feet, increased from the 20-foot setback in place now.

Staff was asked by Commissioner Jim Clingan to find out how many houses would become non-conforming if the new setbacks were put in place.

Clingan said he had reservations about the increased setbacks and the impact they could have on home and landowners. He said increased setbacks could potentially make sales more difficult and lower property values.

He said on undeveloped land the new setbacks were the equivalent of a taking, as the landowners would not be able to develop as much of their land as they would have before the new SMP.

Clingan's comment brought a round of applause from the homeowners at the meeting, an unusual sound during this arduous process.

McInteer said there will be change coming to Burien. She said it will come from federal regulations and state regulations, saying Burien is not autonomous from the areas around it.