Burien, Seattle and King County formally joined together last week to reach a cooperative annexation solution for the North Highline unincorporated area.

With their March 31 accord, they agreed to work together for annexation of the entire unincorporated North Highline community by one or both of the cities.

In a Memorandum of Understanding, signed by King County Executive Ron Sims, Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle and Burien Interim City Manager David Cline, the jurisdictions agreed that it is in their joint interest, and the interest of the public, to work with residents to resolve the annexation issue.

Annexation of North Highline has been studied and debated by residents and the adjacent cities for nearly a decade.

The memorandum establishes a process and schedule that will lead to a joint recommendation by the Sims and mayors for potential annexation boundaries by July.

Designation of potential annexation areas by the respective city councils is to take place this fall, followed by a vote on annexation by North Highline residents in November 2007.

Annexation of the entire area is to take place no later than March 2009.

“This agreement will allow us to jointly examine how services can be most effectively and efficiently provided to residents in North Highline while continuing to provide quality services to current city residents,” said Burien Deputy Mayor Jack Block.

“Whether this means one city annexes the entire area or that we find a dividing line that works for the residents, we don’t yet know.”

Sims said he is “pleased Burien and Seattle have committed to finding an annexation solution for North Highline.

“This issue has been studied to death. The residents of the North Highline community deserve to know what their options truly are for joining a city and then we need to let the people vote.”

Nickels noted that “North Highline is a collection of dynamic and diverse neighborhoods,” like Seattle.

“The people who call this area home should have access to the kind of parks, libraries, public safety and other services that will help their communities prosper.”

In recent years, the cities surrounding North Highline have independently examined the possibility of annexing all or part of the community.

The memorandum now commits Seattle and Burien to share information, coordinate outreach and create a plan with input from the community that best suits the unincorporated area.

Tukwila and SeaTac declined an invitation to participate in this effort.

Community involvement is expected to be a critical component in the process leading to a resolution of annexation issues.

In May, four open houses in North Highline will be held to solicit resident input for the July recommendation on potential annexation boundaries.

A public forum will then be scheduled in late summer to review this recommendation.

During this time, Burien and Seattle will seek feedback from their residents on the annexation decision.

Information about the North Highline open houses scheduled in May is available from Barbara de Michele, community relations planner, at 206-263-3792, barbara.demichele@metrokc.gov, or King County Department of Transportation, 201 S. Jackson St., KSC-TR-0824, Seattle, WA 98104-3856.

"Over the past year, the North Highline community has learned from a (King County) Council-funded study that incorporating North Highline as a stand-alone city would be financially prohibitive,” Councilman Dow Constantine noted.

His county council District 8 includes the entire North Highline area.

“We must continue to engage the community as we move toward an ultimate solution,” he added.

City and county leaders also applaud Gov. Christine Gregoire’s leadership on annexation legislation.

Gregoire signed legislation last week that could contribute to the annexation of North Highline as well as other urban unincorporated communities in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

As passed by the Legislature, Substitute Senate Bill 6686 allows cities that annex communities with at least 10,000 residents to receive a larger share of state sales tax revenue generated within those cities for up to 10 years.

“King County, Seattle and Burien applaud the governor and state Legislature for providing resources at the state level that will help us get our work done at the local level,” said Sims.

“I also personally would like to thank the King County cities for their efforts to push this legislation ensuring that as a county we meet our growth management goals.”

State Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Seattle, who represents part of the Highline area, was a primary backer of the bill.

Unincorporated North Highline, with 32,000 residents, includes the neighborhoods of White Center, Salmon Creek, Boulevard Park, Beverly Park, Glendale, Riverton Heights, Shorewood, South Park, and Top Hat.

Countywide Planning Policies, a regional offshoot of the Washington’s Growth Management Act, has called for unincorporated urban areas to be included in cities by 2012.

In 2003, King County also targeted the North Highline community for annexation and is offering financial assistance to cities that annex unincorporated urban areas.