After the Burien City Council declared unincorporated North Highline a potential annexation area last fall, Seattle followed suit.

With the two cities at loggerheads, each appealed the action of the other to the state Growth Management Board, which adjudicates conflicts under the Growth Management Act.

The annexation process now is on hold, Burien City Manager Mike Martin says.

"There is really nothing to do except sit back and watch what happens at the Growth Management Board," he said.

Burien and Seattle will file briefs with the board in April. Each city will explain why its claim of a potential annexation area should be upheld, Martin said.

Both cities have designated all of the North Highline unincorporated area for potential annexation except for a small pocket bordering Tukwila.

After briefs are filed, the board will hear oral arguments, then make a decision in July as required by state law.

"Either the entire (potential annexation area) will go to Seattle or to Burien," he continued. "It will all go to Seattle or all to Burien."

"If it goes to Seattle, Burien can appeal that decision."

Martin said if Burien prevails, either before the Growth Management Board or on appeal, the city "is not obliged" to annex all of North Highline all at once.

After its potential annexation area claim is in force, Burien could continue to study annexation details and later bring North Highline into the city in a phased approach, "which has been discussed," he said.

"For the time being, no decisions are being made by the two cities ... the next decision will be made by the Growth Management Board," said Martin.

Even after Burien or Seattle "gets the nod" from the board, "voters can still say 'no,'" Martin cautioned.

State law requires that residents of an area designated for annexation be allowed to vote on the proposed merger.

In the meantime, he said, Burien city staff is "still looking at numbers, confirming our data, doing more information gathering. But no policy making is going on at this time.

Ralph Nichols may be contacted via wseditor@robinsonnews.com