Pull two recent Three Tree Point sales side by side and something odd shows up before you even get to the numbers. One address reads Normandy Park, WA 98166. The other reads Burien, WA 98166. Same peninsula, same shoreline, same tight cluster of streets that locals just call "the Point." Different city.

That is not a typo and it is not a quirk of how the postal service drew its lines. It is a real municipal boundary that runs through the middle of Three Tree Point, and it means two houses that look interchangeable on a listing sheet can sit under entirely different police departments, permit offices, and zoning rules. If you are comparing homes here on price per square foot alone, you are missing the variable that actually explains why some transactions move smoothly and others hit friction nobody warned you about.

The line nobody draws on a map

Normandy Park incorporated as its own city in 1953. Burien took five tries at the ballot box before it finally incorporated in 1993, partly out of concern over Sea-Tac Airport's expansion plans. When Burien's boundaries were set, the line ran up against Normandy Park to the south, which is why Three Tree Point, a single physical peninsula that predates both cities, ended up divided between them.

Most buyers never think to ask which side of that line a specific listing sits on. Portal search results lump everything under a neighborhood name and a zip code, and 98166 covers both cities. So the boundary hides in plain sight until you need something from a city office and discover you have been calling the wrong one.

Two police departments, one beach

The clearest example is policing. Normandy Park runs its own municipal department. The Normandy Park Police Department fields 11 commissioned officers and 3 reserve officers covering roughly 6,700 residents across 2.5 square miles, with 24-hour patrol and emergency response.

The Burien side of Three Tree Point does not have its own force. Burien contracts with the King County Sheriff's Office, which runs the area out of Precinct 4, based at the Burien Station. Precinct 4 also covers SeaTac and several unincorporated pockets of southwest King County, a larger territory with a different staffing model than a small city department built to serve one community.

Neither model is better or worse on its face. But if a buyer's decision includes how quickly a patrol car responds, whether there is a non-emergency line staffed by someone who knows the block, or how local code enforcement handles a shoreline complaint, the answer depends entirely on which city's jurisdiction the parcel falls under, not on which real estate listing it appears in.

Here is how the two sides compare on the questions that actually surface during a transaction:

The zoning fight only half the Point is having

This is where the boundary stops being a curiosity and starts being a pricing and risk question. In April 2026, Burien's city council voted 5-2 to put a zoning rollback for Three Tree Point, along with the nearby Lake Burien and Seahurst neighborhoods, on its 2026 agenda after months of resident pushback against R-3 zoning that would have allowed higher-density development on lots that also carry shoreline and critical-area restrictions. Councilmember Stephanie Mora, who made the motion, credited the sustained advocacy from Three Tree Point and Lake Burien residents for bringing the conflict to the council's attention. Councilmember Linda Akey argued the zoning had not accounted for the tree canopy and shoreline restrictions already layered onto those same lots, and noted Burien is a "tier two" city not expecting to reach tier one status for another decade or two, a distinction tied to how much density state law will eventually require on its lots.

That distinction matters for timing. State law does not require Burien to allow four units on every lot until the city's population hits 75,000. Burien's population was just over 53,000 at the time of the April vote, which is part of why the council had room to reconsider the rollback rather than treat it as settled policy.

None of this reaches the Normandy Park side of Three Tree Point. Normandy Park sets its own zoning independently, and nothing in its current code is tied to Burien's comprehensive plan cycle or its R-3 rollback debate. A buyer looking at two comparable lots on the Point today is looking at two different zoning futures depending on which city holds the deed records.

When the boundary shows up in a permit file

The split also plays out at street level. On SW 172nd Street, a stretch of the Burien side of Three Tree Point, longtime residents and the city have been in an on-and-off dispute for years over the width of the public right-of-way along the road, and over cabana and garage structures some property owners built near the bulkhead without permits. Part of the disagreement traces back to whether certain structures were permitted by King County before the area became part of Burien in 1993, meaning some of what looks like a straightforward code violation today has roots in a jurisdiction that no longer exists.

That kind of tangled permit history is exactly the sort of thing a title search or standard inspection will not surface on its own. If you're evaluating a Three Tree Point property near the water, especially on the Burien side, it is worth asking directly whether any dock, cabana, seawall, or garage sits within a right-of-way, and whether the structure's permit predates the 1993 incorporation. We've already walked through the broader permitting and access questions worth raising before you make an offer in our guide to access and parking in Three Tree Point homes, and the city-boundary question belongs on that same checklist.

What this means when you're comparing two listings

If you're shopping Three Tree Point right now, treat the boundary as due diligence, not trivia.

• Confirm which city holds jurisdiction over the specific parcel, not just the general neighborhood. Both cities publish boundary maps, and Normandy Park's own site points residents to those maps as the way to settle the question.
• If the home sits on the Burien side, ask your agent or the listing broker whether the parcel falls inside the R-3 zone under review, and where that rezoning conversation stands heading into the 2026 comprehensive plan cycle.
• If there is any shoreline structure, dock, or built improvement near the water, ask for its permit history and confirm whether it predates 1993, when the Burien side of the Point was still unincorporated King County land.
• Factor city services into your comparison the same way you'd factor in a school boundary or a flood zone. A Normandy Park address means calling a department that knows the street. A Burien address means a larger precinct with a wider service area.

None of this shows up in a median price. It shows up in how smoothly your escrow closes, how confident you feel about future development next door, and how quickly help arrives if you ever need it.

FAQ

How do I find out which city my Three Tree Point address falls under? Both cities maintain boundary maps. Normandy Park's police department page links directly to city map documents, and Burien's planning department can confirm jurisdiction for any specific parcel.

Does the boundary affect my property taxes? Each city sets its own levy rate, and King County's Assessor publishes an annual city tax comparison report. The rates differ by city, so a parcel's exact tax bill depends on which jurisdiction it falls under, not just its assessed value.

Does being on the Burien side put my property at more zoning risk than the Normandy Park side? As of the council's April 2026 vote, only the Burien side has an active rezoning proposal under review. That does not mean the outcome is decided, but it does mean a Burien-side buyer should ask where that process stands before closing, while a Normandy Park-side buyer is working under a separate, unaffected zoning code.

Three Tree Point rewards buyers who ask sharper questions than the listing photos invite. If you're comparing properties here and want a clear read on which city's rules, permits, and comps actually apply to a specific address, Michelle Codd Homes can walk the boundary line with you before you write an offer. Start with a Get Home Value request and we'll tell you exactly what you're buying into.