Burien, WA Parking Rules: Curb Color Rules (2026)

In the City of Burien, King County, Washington, curb and pavement markings are how the city gives legal notice of a parking restriction. Burien Municipal Code § 10.15.030(1) authorizes the city manager or a designee to designate either or both sides of a street as a no parking zone, to set time limits, and to decide which streets use angle parking. Section 10.15.030(2) then requires that official to erect signs, place markings upon the pavement or curb, or otherwise give notice that the area is a no-parking, time-limited parking, or angle-parking-only zone.

Section 10.15.020 ties painting to public safety. Primary public safety decisions, such as restrictions to prevent view obstructions, are the responsibility of the city manager's designated traffic engineer, and notice is given through proper signage and/or street painting. The marking matters because § 10.15.045 makes it unlawful to park, stand or stop at any time or place where official signs prohibit it, and it protects bus stops and fire station driveways that are officially designated and appropriately signed or signposted.

Private commercial property carries its own marking duty. Under § 10.15.075 the obstruction of a designated fire lane by a parked vehicle or any other object is prohibited and counts as a traffic hazard and an immediate hazard to life and property. Anyone who owns, manages, or controls commercial property and fails to mark or maintain the marking of a designated fire lane commits a civil infraction under BMC 1.15.090, with a $150.00 penalty. Parking in, allowing parking in, or obstructing a fire lane carries $250.00.

Disabled parking spaces follow a sign rule instead of a paint rule. Section 10.15.135(4) requires a vertical sign with the international symbol of access, white on a blue background. The sections quoted here do not print a curb paint color, stencil size or paint schedule, so private owners should treat the city's posted restriction and the fire lane designation as the operative notice.