Letter to Burien Council: Do Not Place a Tiny Home Village Next to Kennedy Catholic HS

Council to discuss zoning proposal to allow for citywide Transitional Housing in neighborhoods.

Public portion of the Council Meeting begins at tonight at 6:30pm. Sign up for public comment by 5pm (April 29, 2024).Click here for Meeting AGENDA for April 29, 2024. Concerned Kennedy parent Wendy Butzerin plans to present the following comments to the Burien City Council tonight April 29, 2024. [NOTE FROM EDITOR: Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Burien-News or Daniel Media. If you wish to submit a story, photo, article or letter, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.]Good Evening Councilmembers, Many Kennedy parents, including myself, are concerned about the possibility of rezoning the lot adjacent to Kennedy for transitional housing. We do not want a Tiny Homes Village for the homeless located so close to our children. Homeless people do need help and compassion; however, it's not safe to have them living near a school until they get the services they need.Right now, Burien has a real crisis with homeless people camping downtown. Four homeless men died due to drug overdoses in the last two months. Residents and business owners have reported crime related to public camping. Why is this allowed to happen? King County has restricted the Burien police from enforcing the public camping ordinance. The result is lawlessness.The Tiny Homes Village proposal, passed by the Burien Council and funded by King County, includes a motion about the code of conduct. Residents cannot have drugs, alcohol, or firearms, and there must be no sex offender history. Can Kennedy's parents and the neighbors trust that King County will allow these rules to be enforced, or are we simply moving the homeless crisis down the road to a high school?In February, the Planning Commissioners held a public hearing regarding rezoning the City Light lot next to Kennedy. City planners used the proposed rezoning of this one site to push for city-wide code changes. Their goal was to increase transitional housing throughout single-family neighborhoods in Burien. The decision around rezoning the City Light lot needs to be considered first, and it needs to be a separate issue from code changes that will affect residential neighborhoods throughout Burien. I am grateful for the guidelines on transitional housing the Planning Commissioners recommended, such as a 2-acre maximum lot size and a 1,000-foot barrier between transitional housing and schools. Surprisingly, despite overwhelming public comments supporting these public safety changes, the Burien City staff wants to remove these safety limits on neighborhood transitional housing.First, I ask the Burien Council not to allow the rezoning of the site next to Kennedy. Second, I ask the Councilmembers to reject the funds from King County Regional Homelessness Authority, since they promote the "Housing First" model. As our Deputy Mayor said at the March 18th meeting, "We don't need housing first, we need treatment first.” Finally, I ask Burien Council members to take their time before considering city-wide zoning changes.- Wendy Butzerin, Kennedy Parent

[NOTE FROM EDITOR: If you wish to submit a story, photo, article or letter, please contact us. Even if you wish to remain anonymous, please include your name and phone number so we may contact you privately. We look forward to hearing from you.]