One wonders if the only reason the Burien City Council exists is to totally frustrate the residents of Burien.

The new wave of signs for placing a 2-hour time limit on parked cars in downtown Burien is frivolous. It is another example of over-regulating for no apparent reason, except to provide revenue. Perhaps some of the city's spending should be utilized better.

Other questionable changes: (1) the standardized sign regulation, which outlawed sandwich board advertising. (2) The installation of 4-way stop signs on secondary streets, which make you stop and wait while there is no traffic in the cross-traffic direction. (3) The revisions to the downtown turning lanes, which require you to wait through another traffic-light cycle if the person in front of you got in the wrong lane. (4) The need to have traffic cameras on 1st Avenue intersections was for "safety reasons," according to City Manager Mike Martin. No accident statistics were ever divulged.

Rather than enhancing the business experience in Burien, these regulations do nothing but show merchants and customers that one cannot linger and enjoy the downtown area.

Frederick K. Novota
Burien