NHUAC's Links

About North Highline Unincorporated Area Council

Unincorporated Area Councils provide the County with community input on behalf of citizens living within the geographic boundary of the UAC, including but not limited to the following issues, programs and policies: More...

 

New service levels for King County Roads - What you should know as a resident of North Highline


King County Roads has implemented new criteria for determining maintenance on existing roads in unincorporated King County. The following link describes the 5 tiers of service levels. When you check the map you will see that many of the roads in North Highline are Tier 5.

Tier 5 — Least reliable access
Tier 5 roads carry 10% of the County road system's total daily trips. Features: Local residential roads that have alternative routes available for travel in case of road closures.
Service: Will receive virtually no storm and snow response. Maintenance will be limited and based on factors such as life safety and risk, resulting in a growing number of deteriorating roads. Users can expect to see some closures, which may result in longer detours and difficulty accessing property. These roads may also be downgraded to a gravel surface, restricted to one lane, and have load limits and lower speed limits.
For more information go to the following link.

Boundary Review Board makes final recommendation regarding annexation of North Highline

On Feb. 16, the Washington State Boundary Review Board for King County reached a final decision approving Burien’s annexation request of the North Highline. The next step is for the City Council to pass a resolution confirming the Board’s decision and requesting that King County set an election date, which could be in August or November 2012. The Burien City Council is waiting for the state Legislature to approve a state budget before requesting an election. The Council has indicated it will not proceed with the annexation if the current state tax credit that helps cities provide services to newly annexed areas tax credit is reduced or eliminated from the state budget.

If you are interested in letting your state representatives know your opinion on the annexation tax credit, a simple call to the Legislative Hot Line at 800.562.6000 is all you need to do. Your message will be passed on to your representatives. 


North Highline Graffiti Management Program

Graffiti is a crime. It is costly and destructive and sends a message that the community is not concerned about the appearance of its neighborhoods. It generates neighborhood fear, causes instability, signals an increase in crime, lowers property values, hurts business revenue, it s economically detrimental to our community, and is a sign of urban decay.

By covering the graffiti as soon as possible, you rob the vandal of the effort and time it took to do the tag, and most likely they will move on to another location. You can prevent your property from becoming a "know tag site" by removing graffiti immediately.

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council provides paint and paint supplies for free to residents and business owners. We can also paint out the graffiti on your property free as a community service. You must be the property owner or authorized to sign a release waiver.

If you have questions concerning NHUAC's Graffiti Management Program please contact us at graffiti@northhighlineuac.org.

PUBLIC SAFETY FORUM: MAY 10

Mark your calendars as NHUAC, in conjunction with Deputy BJ Myers of the King County Sheriff’s Office, will be hosting the second in the quarterly series of Public Safety Forums on May 10, at 7pm at the North Highline Fire Station (1243 112th Street, SW). This is a great opportunity to not only connect with neighbors, but to meet people from all areas of the North Highline Community and beyond, as well as connect with the local deputies. Please stay tuned for additional information on what will be covered at the forum.

As always, we encourage community participation.
To view a flyer click here.

The North Highhline Unincorporated Area Council Public Safety Forum

On February 9, the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council (NHUAC) sponsored the first in series of quarterly public safety meetings at the North Highline Fire House to a packed audience. We are pleased to have worked in conjunction with the King County Sheriff’s office to make the forum a success. Residents from not only North Highline, but West Seattle, Burien, West Hill and as far away as Federal Way, attended to hear Detective Joe Gagliardi give an excellent talk and presentation on gang behavior and activity in South King County. Detective Gagliardi is one of the regions foremost experts on criminal street gangs, and has been working in North Highline and Burien for a number of years, making him uniquely knowledgeable about local gang behavior.

Among other things, Detective Gagliardi spoke of the importance of covering graffiti quickly to prevent both private and public property from becoming “known tag sites”. With that said, NHUAC has had a “Graffiti Management Program” in place for several years to aid and assist residents and businesses to keep properties clear of graffiti (please see information on this website regarding the program).

Another interesting point that was discussed had to do with the decrease in gang cases in White Center since Club Evolucion (AKA Club E, Club Evo) has been closed. Detective Gagliardi noted that number of gang cases dropped by almost a third since the club has been shut down. NHUAC board members, as well as several community members had worked closely with DDES, North Highline Fire Dept, the King County Sheriff’s office, and the State Liquor Control Board, to name just a few agencies, to have this club, that had been the scene of numerous problems in downtown White Center closed. With the help of our county council representative, Joe McDermott, a one year moratorium had been enacted in October, 2011, that will prevent the owners of the club from obtaining a license to operate the business, at least until October 2012. We are hopeful that the moratorium will be extended beyond that time.

Additionally, the White Center Storefront Deputy, BJ Myers discussed the importance of Block Watches, and a discussion ensued with community activist, Gill Loring about the effectiveness and steps to form these watches.

Dan Carew, from the Center for Children and Youth Justice spoke about the Suburban Coordinating King County Council on Gangs and noted that they are conducting a “Community Resident Survey”, which can be accessed online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KCGang. We encourage everyone to take a few minutes to complete the survey.

Thanks to all who attended. We look forward to the next Public Safety Forum on May 10, 2012.

COMMUNITY MATTERS – STAY INVOLVED – BE INFORMED
IMPORTANT NUMBERS:
Emergency: 911
Non-Emergency: 296.3311
State Liquor Control Board (to report violations): 888.838.3956
Deputy B.J. Myers (White Center Storefront): 391.1651
Email: benjamin.myers@kingcounty.gov

KC Metro Zone Boundary Line

The NHUAC has requested that KC Metro review it's policy regarding the southern Zone Boundary, currently SW Roxbury (SW96th). The northern Zone Boundary is at 145th North. We have requested that they move the southern boundary to the Burien Park and Ride (148th SW) which would make a trip from North Highline to Seattle a one zone ride. Click here to see our letter. And this is their response.

Library Board meeting November 29, 2011

On November 29, NHUAC board members, Barbara Dobkin, Pat Price and Liz Giba, traveled to Issaquah to the King County Library Service Center, to testify before the King County Library Board of Trustees, in an attempt to save White Center and Boulevard Park libraries. They were joined by King County Councilman, Joe McDermott, Burien City Council members, Rose Clark, Jerry Robison, and Jack Block, as well as the tireless White Center Library Guild President, Rachel Levine, community activists, Gil Loring and Greg Duff, and over 40 other concerned members of not only the Burien, White Center, and Boulevard Park communities, but also residents of Bellevue, Federal Way and Tukwilla.

For just under 3 hours, the board heard passionate testimony regarding the need of these two vital community resources, and objection to the Library Boards plan to consolidate these facilities into one branch and build a new library approximately 16 blocks south of the present White Center Library.

Concern was expressed regarding the promise that was made to the community when the 2004 Library Bond Levy was passed, that a new 10,000 square foot White Center Library would be built on the site of the existing library, and capital improvements would be made to the Boulevard Park facility. Using the potential annexation of the remaining unincorporated area of North Highline to Seattle as an excuse for not keeping their promise to the community, the library board was informed by Rose Clark, as well as Councilman, McDermott, that Seattle has moved away from annexation of North Highline, while Burien has been moving forward.

Karen Freeman, from County Executive, Dow Constatine's office, provided an update to the board on the Burien annexation timeline, and requested that the board not take action until the annexation issue was resolved.

After discussion and deliberation, the board unanimously voted, with the exception of Lucy Krakowiak, who recused herself stating conflict of interest (Ms. Krakowiak also serves on the Burien City Council) to delay any decision regarding the libraries until at least until after the Boundary Review Board makes its decision on Burien's proposed annexation of North Highline. The Boundary Review Board hearing is scheduled for January 9, 2012.

Please let the King County Library Board of Trustees know what you think about their plan to close and consolidate the White Center and Boulevard Park Libraries.
You can contact the Director, Bill Ptacek at 425.369.3232 or billp@kcls.org.
The board can be contacted at: boardoftrustees@kcls.org.

Information about the Capital Bond Improvement Projects can be found on the KCLS website: kcls.org