Burien, WA Parking Rules: Preferential Parking Districts (2026)

The City of Burien, in King County, Washington, treats residential permit parking as a tool the city manager controls, not a program that starts the moment neighbors ask for it. Burien Municipal Code § 10.15.020 says the city may establish parking restrictions on portions of certain specified streets, including residential parking zones that restrict parking on certain streets at certain times except by permit. Section 10.15.030(1)(d) gives the city manager or a designee authority to establish the issuance of permits for residential parking, next to the power to designate no parking zones and to set time limits.

The decision on a specific street belongs to the city manager or a designee, who acts after determining that a specific condition warrants the restriction. Section 10.15.020 treats a restriction meant to let residents use abutting streets for parking as one that is not primarily a public safety concern. For those restrictions the city must notify abutting property and business owners and consider public input first, and the owners are told in writing whether the restriction goes forward.

Section 10.15.040 lays out the path step by step. A complaint or suggestion reaches the city, public works and police review it, and a recommendation goes to the city manager, who decides whether it proceeds. If it proceeds, the city manager holds a public meeting, with notice sent to the Burien City Council and to abutting property and business owners. After that meeting the manager chooses one of three outcomes: go forward with no modifications, go forward with modifications, or not go forward. The final form of the restriction is sent to abutting owners, and the city manager's decision can be appealed to the hearing examiner within 30 days. If no appeal is filed in that window, the restriction goes into effect.

Under § 10.15.030(2) the city must give notice of the zone by signs or markings on the pavement or curb. The sections quoted here print no permit fee, zone map or eligibility test. Those details fall to regulations the city manager adopts under § 10.15.030(3), which must stay consistent with the § 10.15.020 policy.