Mukilteo City Council Rezones Waterfront Lot 5 Near the Ferry Terminal for Shops, Restaurants and Mixed Use

The gravel lot next to the Mukilteo ferry terminal can now hold more than a few benches. The Mukilteo City Council voted 6-1 at its first October meeting to rezone the waterfront parcel known as Lot 5 from open space to Waterfront Mixed Use, The Everett Herald reported. The change was part of the comprehensive plan update for Mukilteo, Washington.

The 1.2-acre lot sits just west of the ferry terminal and east of Lighthouse Park. Waterfront Mixed Use zoning allows businesses such as retail shops, restaurants and cafes.

What the rezone does, and doesn't, decide

The rezone does not pick a project. The city still owns the land and is still looking for a developer to lease it, and the council could still decide to keep it a park.

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"Any of those future decisions about leasing the property, what the specific development would look like, those will all still be in the council's hands," planning director Andrew Galuska told the council.

A ground lease, not a sale

Mukilteo opened its developer search this summer. The city wants a long-term lease of up to 80 years, so it keeps ownership while a private developer builds and runs the project, the Herald reported in July. The first step was a request for qualifications, with a second round to follow.

The city said at the time that it wanted a partner rather than a tenant, and it is working with the Port of Everett, which is also looking for developers for its own waterfront land, so the two projects fit together.

The city is holding back a 20-foot-wide strip between Lot 5 and the shore for the planned promenade and beach access, senior planner Sarah Kress told the council in September, and any building on the lot would have to meet state shoreline access rules.

Both sides

Residents were divided. Some want the lot kept as a park, as shown in the city's 2016 waterfront master plan. Others said businesses would make the site more inviting and draw visitors year-round.

"Why do we have to muck it up in Mukilteo every time?" resident Kate Forrester asked the council at a September meeting, when the vote was pushed back. Resident Ashvin Sanghvi argued the other way: "The view is awesome, but the way the land is being used is nothing."

Council member Bob Champion cast the only no vote. "The snail's pace of government is slow, and I kind of think we're jumping the gun," he said, adding that he had heard from residents who wanted the zoning left as is.

Council member Don Doran voted yes. "We can absolutely have this property look exactly the way this community wants it to look, whether that's with a commercial establishment or a park," he said.

Decades in the making

The waterfront held a U.S. Air Force fuel tank farm from the 1950s until it was decommissioned in 1990. After cleanup, the land passed to the Port of Everett in 2013, and some went to the city in 2016.

Any lease and any building plan for Lot 5 will come back to the City Council for a vote.

Sources

• Mukilteo council votes to rezone waterfront property, The Everett Herald
• Mukilteo looking for developers to build on waterfront, The Everett Herald
• Mukilteo weighing rezone of property on waterfront, The Everett Herald