Lynnwood re-examines parking rule

Published 9:00 pm Monday, November 24, 2003

LYNNWOOD — Officials here know if they build a new convention center, people will come.

The question is: Where will they park?

The City Council held a public hearing Monday night asking just that as the Lynnwood public facilities district asked the council to make an exception to its rules about how much parking the center should provide.

City code requires more spaces than the 500 the center is offering, but facilities district officials said while they don’t expect to need more parking than that, they have backup plans just in case.

Valet parking and agreements with nearby property owners will be enough to handle any extra parking needed for rare events that overload the center’s lots, officials said.

Parking was one of three exceptions to city code the City Council is considering before allowing the convention center to move forward. The other two involve landscaping. No votes on any of the exceptions had been taken by press time.

Council members acknowledged the unique nature of them overseeing an agency they created — the facilities district.

"We’re pretty close to marrying cousins on this one," Councilman Don Gough said.

The council created the district four years ago to take advantage of a then-new state law that allows cities to build public facilities, such as a convention center, without using local taxes. Instead, the money comes from sales taxes that already are collected, but going to the state.

Lynnwood’s $31 million convention center will bring millions of dollars into the city and will give the city’s concept of a city center a jump start, officials said Monday.

In addition to breaks on parking spaces, the district asked the City Council to make an exception to how much landscaping there must be between the street and the building, along with landscaping in existing parking lots.

The convention center will feature a public plaza on the corner of 196th Street SW and 37th Avenue W., where there will be no landscaping.

The city normally requires at least 15 feet of landscaping, but city staff recommended the City Council approve the exception because the new plaza will better serve the public and is more in line with the City Center plan.

"This is a historic night," said Mike Echelbarger, chairman of the facilities district board. "This is not a (subdivision) or another shopping center, this is a major public facility. When you’re coming into Lynnwood, you’ll no longer see an old muffler shop or smoke shops."

The convention center will provide a new visible landmark as people come into the city, said many business people who spoke in support of it Monday.

Grant Dull, executive director of the facilities district, said more than $13 million a year in business will come from people in town for events at the new center.

Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455, or e-mail vbalta@heraldnet.com.