Burien, WA Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Section 7.30.220 of the Burien Municipal Code, titled Skateboards and in-line skates in designated areas only, sets a default ban inside City of Burien parks. No person is permitted to skateboard or in-line skate in park facilities unless the parks director has designated otherwise. The same section bars riding or driving any bicycle, tricycle, skateboard, roller skates, scooter, or any other motorized or nonmotorized vehicle on any tennis court, and that sentence carries no designation exception. The section covers park facilities, not sidewalks or streets.

Park paths and trails have their own section. Under § 7.30.090, travel on a park path or trail includes foot, bicycle, horse, skateboard, roller skates and in-line skates. Park paths and trails are open to all nonmotorized users unless otherwise designated and posted, and restrictions can be posted at park entrances, trailheads or on individual trails. Every person traveling on a park path or trail must obey the instructions of any official traffic control device or trail sign unless otherwise directed, and no motorized vehicles are allowed on park trails or paths. Community paths and neighborhood trails in public rights-of-way are governed by Chapter 12.20 BMC instead. Read together, the parks director's designations and the posted signs decide where wheels are allowed.

Other Chapter 7.30 rules reach skating behavior. Section 7.30.260 prohibits sports and physical play that interfere or tend to interfere with or endanger other park users unless permission is obtained in advance from the parks director. Section 7.30.200 requires advance permission from the parks director for activities that present a risk of damage to facilities. Section 7.30.100 bars placing any object, structure or device that threatens or endangers any trail or any person traveling on it, which covers ramps and obstacles built on a trail. The Burien City Council adopted these park rules in Ord. 475 in 2007.