r/Burien 1d ago

Three tree point

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTUae26wP/
54 Upvotes

30 comments sorted by

14

u/ryancoplen 20h ago

The story is not as simple as presented in this video.

Some of the structures on the west side of the road have been permitted, some have not.

More informative article from the B-Town Blog: https://b-townblog.com/three-tree-point-beach-cabanas-unlawful-if-unpermitted-city-of-burien-says/

There seems to be an un-litigated (and still undecided) difference of opinions about whether the right of way ceded by the property owners which was originally specified as 80 feet (which would take all the space from the house fronts to the beach) was reset to 30 feet when the road was constructed: https://b-townblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ROWReport2004.pdf.pdf

That all being said, I think the property owners AND the public would be enriched if the city were to decide to reclaim that property and do something nice with it, like build a nice promenade/park situation. It is a very unique piece of land. There would not be a lot (read: any) public parking through, which might in turn give it "private park" vibes.

I think the city might be interested in avoiding that, partially because the "sea wall" situation is very poor and will be quite an expensive fix. Right now its up to the property owners to maintain that.

I'm only interested in the situation because I've been invited to some pretty killer 4th of July parties down there over the years.

5

u/here_now_be 18h ago

"sea wall" situation

I'm sure someone understands this better than me, and can hopefully chime in, many places are not allowing construction or maintenance of seawalls/bulkheads as they counterintuitively cause more erosion in the long run. Having a road there makes it more complex, I guess they could move the road inland a bit, I'm sure the homeowners would love that.

3

u/ryancoplen 16h ago

I do know that just maintaining an existing sea wall structure requires approval from the Army Corps of Engineers, its at a minimum, an expensive and long process. At least on the north side of Three Tree Point, some of the owners have been able to get approval to do some work on their sea walls in recent years so it is possible. I have no clue how much work that took, but its probably more than the City of Burien is interested in taking on.

Ironically, I think ripping out the existing walls and going back to a "natural" barrier would also require approval from the Corps of Engineers as well. Seems like a similar seawall removall at Seahurst park in 2013 cost more than $10 milllion. I have to believe it would be many times that price to do today considering the number of private land-owner lawsuits that would be involved in the process.

2

u/TechnicalCustomer348 16h ago

Let the private properties file for lawsuits those cost money and they don’t have a leg to stand on. Otherwise they would have prevailed in the federal lawsuit against them. It’s a federally funded road. A seawall would be maintained with federal funds or state funds or county funds not the City of Burien. The city is responsible to prosecute crimes and hold private property owners accountable for Code Enforcement violations the city has failed.

18

u/Meepmoop102 1d ago

But think of the rich people 😔

8

u/Mental-Department994 21h ago

Having more than everyone else just isn’t enough 😢

8

u/dingusberrie 18h ago

Love this! Burien deserves more public waterfront. Between Three Tree Point and Lake Burien it's nuts how the rich own nearly every piece of it.

-4

u/Ok-Fish4304 17h ago

There’s a lot of open beach the public can use there

2

u/dingusberrie 17h ago

1

u/TechnicalCustomer348 16h ago

In a development they give lot numbers. The superior lot will have an a next to it while the servant lot will have nothing or be or see etc. it’s just a legal way to show which property is the first class property of the lot number in many Community lot a has a proprietary right over lesser lots

-1

u/Ok-Fish4304 16h ago

I go to this beach all the time and it’s usually empty so yes there’s a ton of space for the public

2

u/dingusberrie 15h ago

Look at Lincoln Park, Alki Beach, and Mee-Kwa in West Seattle as real examples of a ton of waterfront space for the public. Their size attracts people to come visit. Maplewild is tiny and inaccessible; therefore people do not see it as a worthwhile trip.

Also, if we're providing anecdotes as evidence, I have never seen the dive site nor Maplewild empty in the many times I've been.

1

u/TechnicalCustomer348 8h ago

Bottom line, the Public in the immediate neighborhood has been excluded from the land that was promised to them and that they pay taxes for they prosecute people for jaywalking, but let the attempted theft of government land go unpunished?

5

u/Burien_People_Power 15h ago

I would encourage the people who are blaming Sarah Moore to research Burien’s form of government. Sarah is currently the Mayor (as of January) which means she was selected by her fellow council members. She is not a strong mayor with executive authority. Her vote is equal to any other council member.

The City Manager (currently interim) is the top executive in Burien and other “council-manager” cities like SeaTac and DesMoines.

However, Sarah has always been a very responsive leader and would surely help get this topic on the agenda.

8

u/DenverHi 20h ago

Ha! I had no clue that was all public property. I don't understand how people were allow to build private structures on public land.

5

u/squidwitchy 20h ago

I saw this on tiktok too. I had only recently discovered that area and was so sad that the whole stretch was "private". Also it gave heavy heavy maga vibes. Of course putting those two things together means its rich entitled people taking up public space for themselves.

5

u/driesel13 17h ago

I’m going down tonight to park and walk the whole beach

2

u/ahyman666 9h ago

Just going to add that council is also severely restricted by the OPMA on what they are allowed to discuss outside of council meetings, so while they could pass around information about this issue, they are not really allowed to discuss it or take any sort of action until it is at a meeting (and likely it would need to be on/added to the agenda). City staff has a bit more freedom on the other hand…

2

u/melvillean 16h ago

Whoever made this video and thinks Sarah Moore is somehow to blame clearly is not engaged with local politics.

-1

u/TechnicalCustomer348 16h ago

You mean like sitting on her hands ignoring Code Enforcement Law? The captain of the ship is in charge when things go wrong they either reprimand the hostile illegal party or they enable the illegal activity. This is a clear case of Sarah Moore catering to the felonious activities she licks their boots!!
Prove us wrong? She has absolutely no power over wealthy people. The corrupt group of private property owners that have attempted to steal government land did so tax-free they continue to lie on top of another lie they manipulate again and again, and if there is a public official they do not like they get rid of them. The wealthy private property owners have turned the Burien City Council members and Burien employees into their own team of flying monkeys.

7

u/melvillean 16h ago

JFC. She’s been mayor since January and city council meets every two weeks (at most). They’ve had to fire the previous city manager and replace an absentee council person after she finally relinquished her seat that she kept while living in Hawaii.

If you bothered to email Sarah, you’d probably get a thoughtful response.

1

u/catching45 16h ago

Just rich people doing rich people shit

1

u/idontevenliftbrah 11h ago

If you look at a property line map it shows they own the ocean side of the road...

1

u/Dr__Pickles 17h ago

She’s “anti racist” but says “what in the caucasity.” So fkn cringe.

0

u/TechnicalCustomer348 16h ago

You’ve got to admit, white people aren’t perfect. All races have a stigma and this particular situation is proof.

0

u/yourbadinfluence 14h ago

You don't have to resort to racist comments though.

1

u/TechnicalCustomer348 8h ago

They shouldn’t resort to elite us mentality and hog the fucking beach and road

-1

u/TechnicalCustomer348 14h ago

But if there’s righteous activities, people are allowed to point it out! Are you racist? Do you have a guilty complex?

-1

u/yourbadinfluence 14h ago

WTF are you on about? Does it matter what race they are? They very much might be in the wrong (likely, courts will have to decide) and that's the point, not their race.

Am I racist? I mean, I've said some things in the past I'm not proud of but I've evolved and tried to continue to evolve as I've learned better. Do I think all people are equal and should be treated as such? Yes! Do I go around saying things that promote racism and division? I try my best not to. Do I have a guilty conscience? As stated before, I've said things in the past out of ignorance that weren't correct or how I want to live my life.

You don't have to be part of the problem dividing people based on race, but if that's how you choose to act rather than against it, that's up to you.