Neighbors of Seahurst Park, Burien Washington

Neighbors of Seahurst Park needs donations to pay attorney costs, court fees for filing appeals, and technical consultants to contest the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Westmark Project. As we fight to save our park this effort requires the support of many people and may take several years. While large donations would be greatly appreciated, we know that the backbone of this effort will be many people contributing small amounts. All contributions are sincerely appreciated. We ask people who use any sort of online payments to consider setting up a monthly automatic recurring donation. Monthly support of $10, $15 or $25 dollars from enough people can make a huge difference as we move forward with this fight. If you are unable to support the effort financially, please consider volunteering, we will be developing a list of things that need doing. We also plan to arrange other donation options soon.

All the work of running the group is done by unpaid volunteers. All funds raised go directly to the defense of the park

We'll be having a Wine Tasting and fund raiser again this year on Friday November 27th. It will be at E.B. Foote Winery at 127-B SW 153rd Street in Burien again. The speaker will be Greg Wingard from the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition. Their organization participated in the making of the "Poisoned Waters" video recently aired on PBS. His talk will focus on the effectiveness and power of grassroots movements. See our News page for more details as they become available.

Here's your chance to see the beach at Seahurst Park after dark. The Environmental Science Center, along with the City of Burien and People for Puget Sound are sponsoring a Moonlight Beach Walk on Saturday December 12, 2009 and Friday February 26, 2010. There is a combined Full Moon and minus low tide on both dates, so there will be lots to look at. The Environmental Science Center will have Beach Naturalists available to answer questions and guide walkers on the beach. Details are on the Environmental Science Center website. These events get more popular every year.

Neighbors of Seahurst Park had a wine tasting fund raiser on November 28, 2008 at the E.B. Foote Winery at 127-B SW 153rd Street in Burien. Details are on our News page. We had a great turnout, and everyone had a great time. Thank you all.

The event was a great success with over 50 people showing up to pitch in. The group pulled ivy off of the old caretaker's house and a couple of nearby trees, removed several large holly trees, including one that was going to seed, and cleared blackberries and other invasives from two areas near the North Shelter. In one area some ferns were planted to replace them. See SeahurstPark.org for details.

After a brief discussion on September 10, 2008 the Highline School Board voted to allow Westmark to withdraw their request for access to the Emerald Pointe Condominiums across surplus School property. We would like to thank the Board of the Highline School District for their careful and detailed consideration of all aspects of the situation, and for their statements regarding their concerns about the possible negative environmental impacts of the Development. Please see our News page for more details.

A very sincere Thank You to everyone who signed petitions, attended meetings, donated money and any of the myriad other things that have helped with this stage of the effort.

As of Tuesday morning September 9, something to do with Westmark is back on the Agenda. No details are available yet. Please watch the News page.

The Highline School District is close to deciding on Westmark's request for property. Please try to attend the meeting to show support for Seahurst Park. The School Board will not be voting at the September 10, 2008 meeting. Details and updates are on our News page.

Seahurst Park is 175 acres of dense second growth forest, beach front, and wetland in Burien, Washington. It is home to a large wildlife population including many bird species, and is bounded on the west by approximately a mile of Puget Sound shoreline. The upper end of the Park is the North Creek Basin, which contains a wetland covering about 30 acres. The Westmark Corporation is planning to build a 178 unit condominium complex on 9.8 acres it owns adjacent to the east edge of the North Creek basin. Westmark filed initial permits to build on this property in February 1990. That makes the Project vested under at least some building regulations from 1990. Westmark contends that that includes 1990 SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) regulations which means that Westmark would be allowed to use environmental regulations in effect in 1990 and ignore the most current laws that incorporate much that has been learned since then about building in or near sensitive areas.

The Seahurst Park wetland borders the Westmark property and actually extends into the proposed building site on one corner. This Google Map shows the approximate boundaries of the wetland and the planned development. Seahurstpark.org has an explanation of what's on the map.

The primary goal of Neighbors of Seahurst Park is to protect the wetlands in Seahurst Park. Damage to this wetland will eventually result in damage to North Creek (which starts in and flows through the wetland area) and other parts of the Park including the Salmon Hatchery, the Marine Technology Center operated by the Highline School District, the beach, and even Puget Sound, ALL located directly below the wetland area.

On June 10, 2008 the City of Burien released the FEIS (Final Environmental Impact Statement) for the Westmark Development Project; Emerald Pointe on the Sound. On June 20, 2008 Neighbors of Seahurst Park filed an appeal of the Final Environmental Impact Statement with the City of Burien.