Mukilteo growth faces challenges from Lynnwood, Snohomish County

Published 10:35 pm Sunday, January 6, 2008

MUKILTEO — The city’s plans to claim more than 3,000 acres of unincorporated land may be facing challenges on two fronts.

Lynnwood officials are considering asking the state Boundary Review Board to block Mukilteo’s attempt to move its boundary as far south as 148th Street SW and Norma Beach Road.

The Snohomish County Council has already asked the board — which has the power to change annexation plans — to reject Mukilteo’s plan to claim roughly 272 acres of county-owned airport land around Paine Field.

A February hearing has been set to settle Mukilteo’s dispute with the county.

There may be time to reach a compromise with the city of Lynnwood without involving the Boundary Review Board, Mukilteo City Council President Jennifer Gregerson said.

“The county issue, we know we’re not going to come to an agreement, that it needs to be decided by another party,” Gregerson said. “But I hope we can find an agreement with Lynnwood and come to a middle ground.”

The Lynnwood City Council is scheduled to discuss Mukilteo’s annexation plans today in a closed session.

For years, Lynnwood officials have planned on annexing the neighborhoods around 148th Street SW and Norma Beach because they want control over development around Lunds Gulch. The city has worked to preserve wetlands in the gulch, Lynnwood City Councilman Ted Hikel said.

High-value homes in the area also generate hefty revenue for Snohomish County Fire District 1, which works closely with the city of Lynnwood, Hikel said.

“I don’t think we’ve come to any agreement yet with Mukilteo on the drawing of that line,” Hikel said. “We both have interests in that area.”

Officials from Mukilteo and Lynnwood have met several times since last summer in hopes of reaching an agreement over how to divide the Meadowdale area between the two cities.

In some of those meetings, Lynnwood officials seemed agreeable to Mukilteo’s border stopping on the north side of 148th Street SW, leaving the south side of the road — the side with Lunds Gulch — for Lynnwood, Gregerson said.

Voters in the annexation areas are scheduled to decide in May whether they want to join the city of Mukilteo.

City officials are not deterred by the challenges from Lynnwood and the county, Gregerson said.

“I don’t think it’s a make or break thing,” she said.

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.