EVERETT — An agreement between the city and Snohomish County over parking at the planned new courthouse was put on hold Wednesday.
The Everett City Council was scheduled to approve an agreement that would have committed the county to lease 300 parking spaces in a new parking garage — if the city or someone else were to build one near the new Snohomish County Courthouse.
That agreement doesn’t commit the city to building a garage, and members of the council had many questions from the city and county’s staff about how parking demand was being accounted for.
Not satisfied with the available data, the city council tabled the agreement until more information is provided. Another courthouse briefing is scheduled for the council’s Sept. 2 meeting.
By then, the county’s courthouse plans might change.
The uncertainty in Everett has caused County Council Chairman Dave Somers to reconsider the $162 million project. Somers said Thursday he plans to ask county staff to develop a less expensive backup plan. Emerging problems with the county’s finances also have weighed on his mind.
“I’m not pulling the plug, but I’m asking that we have another conversation about an alternative plan,” he said. Somers is running for county executive against incumbent John Lovick.
Construction on the new building already was delayed by the parking issue, which threatened to derail the project back in December. That’s when the Everett council imposed an emergency ordinance requiring the county to provide parking to replace the loss of a county-owned parking lot across the street from Xfinity Arena.
Last week, members of the nearby First Presbyterian Church also raised the parking issue, prompting the council to ask for another opportunity to review the courthouse project.
On Wednesday, the council learned for the first time that an additional 10 on-street parking spaces along Wall Street will be lost, and that parking along adjacent streets will be limited for two years while the courthouse was under construction.
The 10 spaces on Wall Street were cut because the county conducted a security study, said Mark Thunberg, the county’s facilities director. The study recommended not allowing parking on the front of the building, he said.
Councilman Scott Murphy objected to not having been privy to the county’s study beforehand.
“If you’re able to eliminate 10 parking spaces without us even having the benefit of seeing the security analysis, I object to that, even as a citizen,” Murphy said.
He also questioned the math by which the city had determined that the county would meet its parking requirement by moving some fleet vehicles from the existing garage and freezing its employee headcount.
“It strikes me that we’re giving them too much credit for reducing their employment,” Murphy said.
Councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher also took issue with the calculations.
“If everything is fine and parking’s good, why are we asking them to get involved in an agreement that requires them to have lease 300 parking spaces?” she asked.
City planning director Allan Giffen said the lease was intended to accommodate future growth in the county’s work force.
Mayor Ray Stephanson pointed out that before the council enacted the emergency ordinance last year, there was no requirement that a new government building provide more parking.
The city is planning a comprehensive downtown parking study this fall, he said, and it is trying to address its own needs highlighted by the Snohomish County Council’s decision to build a new courthouse in the middle of downtown.
“We are not — and I am certainly not — endorsing the council’s decision to build the courthouse on this site,” Stephanson said.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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