Under Washington State Law, all counties and cities are required to conduct a periodic review and update their critical areas regulations in accordance with RCW 36.70A.130. The City of Burien’s Community Development Department updated the City’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) as a part of implementing Burien 2044 Comprehensive Plan and as required by the Growth Management Act.
The Critical Area Ordinance Amendments go into effect on December 30, 2025. See the official zoning map and a clean version of the code amendments here until the online BMC is updated.
Use the Interactive map to see if your property is located within a critical area.
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Background Information
As a part of the Comprehensive Plan update, and as required by the Growth Management Act (GMA), the City reviewed and updated its policies and regulations around critical areas. The Critical Areas Ordinance (BMC 19.40) was last updated in 2015 and must be evaluated and revised every 10 years. With this periodic review update, we provided an opportunity to ensure the City of Burien’s Critical Areas regulations are consistent with federal and state policies and incorporate the best available science related to conservation and natural hazards while also reviewing for administrative efficiencies. This update looked at the best available science and existing conditions, and ensured any proposed amendments were scientifically supported, being both acceptable to Washington State regulators and Burien residents.
What are Critical Areas?
RCW 36.70A.030(11) defines five types of critical areas, which are required to be protected by local development regulations. The five critical areas are as follows:
- Wetlands: English | Español | Tiếng Việt | አማርኛ
- Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas: English | Español | Tiếng Việt | አማርኛ
- Aquifer Recharge Areas: English | Español | Tiếng Việt | አማርኛ
- Frequently Flooded Areas: English | Español | Tiếng Việt | አማርኛ
- Geologically Hazardous Areas: English | Español | Tiếng Việt | አማርኛ
What is Best Available Science?
RCW 36.70A.172 requires all counties and cities in Washington to include “the best available science in developing policies and development regulations to protect function and values of critical area”.
In order to protect the functions and values of critical areas, scientifically valid information should be provided to assist in the discussion and decision-making process in how to best protect each critical area. To include the best available science, the development of critical area regulations requires a record of scientific rational for the policy decisions that maintain the protection of the functions and values of critical areas. To meet the requirements of Washington State Law, the City hired a technical consultant to review the latest scientific data and research to update Burien’s Critical Areas code.
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Last Updated: December 23, 2025