Mukilteo may swap homes for shops
Published 10:10 pm Sunday, November 4, 2007
MUKILTEO — People who live in Old Town Mukilteo were in an uproar years ago when the city wanted to widen Fifth Street and add bike lanes and sidewalks.
So Mayor Joe Marine said he wasn’t surprised when neighbors in Old Town recently voiced strong opposition to a plan to allow businesses on one side of a block on Third Street.
Marine believes residents might be more willing to consider growth in their back yards if they’re allowed to weigh in on the planning process.
Starting next year, the mayor wants city staff to work with residents to plan a downtown business district — a blueprint for commercial growth.
“Obviously, they’re concerned about the creeping factor, and traffic, and noise, and all that goes along with that,” Marine said. “For anything positive to happen down there, we’ve got to get everyone onboard.”
The City Council is scheduled to talk about the city’s 2008 budget at 7 p.m. tonight, and Marine said the council may explore a plan for a business district at the meeting.
The idea to create a downtown business district stemmed from the debate over whether to rezone residential land on Third Street. After hours of debate at last week’s City Council meeting, council members failed to agree whether to rezone the land for downtown business use.
Linda Wooding, a resident of Old Town, was among a handful of people who went door to door for two weeks before the meeting, asking neighbors to sign petitions opposing the proposed rezone. Her group collected 128 signatures, she said.
She said her neighborhood was zoned as single-family residential when she moved there. The city should not change that, she said.
“It’s a beautiful neighborhood,” Wooding said. “People want to live here. When they move in, they don’t want to change it, and all of a sudden some people come and want to change it.”
Wooding said she supports the idea of community members and city officials working together to plan for business growth. However, any discussion would be worthless if all points of view aren’t represented, she said.
“Most people would rather keep the business area separate, and up more toward Harbour Pointe (Boulevard), because this is just a neighborhood,” Wooding said.
City Council President Jennifer Gregerson, who supported the proposed rezone last week, said there is room for new businesses in Old Town. The bigger question is what kind of businesses would fit best in the neighborhood, she said.
Rather than deal with growth on a project-by-project basis, Gregerson likes the idea of crafting a long-term plan for Old Town’s growth.
“It will be interesting to see if we can come to some kind of community consensus on it,” she said. “That will be the goal, to involve neighbors, our planning staff and maybe some consultant work.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
Meeting tonight
The City Council plans to meet at 7 tonight at City Hall, 4480 Chennault Beach Road.
