Lynnwood to temporarily allow commercial paid parking ahead of World Cup

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 27, 2026

EVERETT — The Lynnwood City Council approved Tuesday a six-month ordinance to allow paid parking in commercial areas ahead of the FIFA World Cup.

With the ordinance, the city hopes to relieve the pressure stemming from high parking demand near the light rail station, city planner Zack Spencer said at a May 11 meeting.

City staff have not previously recommended paid parking because of concerns that it could stall development of the City Center, according to a staff report. The World Cup gives the city a unique opportunity to determine paid parking demand, the report said. Over the next six months, the city will study the efficacy of the parking program and decide whether to extend the ordinance.

“I think it’s a well-thought-out ordinance,” council President Nick Coelho said Tuesday. “It allows us to ideally work with the local business community and solve some pinch points and the parking situation near the light rail and collect some information.”

When planning for the World Cup began, the local organizing committee in Seattle estimated the event would bring 750,000 visitors to the region, said Ryan Bush, the city’s tourism project manager, at a May 18 meeting. Now, that estimate is down to 350,000, he said. While hotel bookings in Lynnwood were expected to increase, the city’s hotels hadn’t seen any surge in demand as of May 18. However, the city is still expecting significant demand for the light rail. Sound Transit is preparing for impacts similar to the parade following the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl win, Bush said.

“Overall, Lynnwood may not see as big of an impact to foot traffic as we were expecting, but we’ll still play a key role in all of this,” he said.

The city has been in contact with the developers of Northline Village, a future development near the light rail station. The location at 19800 44th Ave. W is currently an empty, paved lot. The developers have not committed to providing parking as managing a paid lot comes with challenges, Planning Manager Karl Almgren said at the May 11 meeting. Between May 11 and Tuesday, staff updated the ordinance to make it easier to add the paid parking regulations to existing development agreements.

The ordinance only allows paid parking in areas that have another land use, preventing a new lot from being created just for paid parking use. Operators of paid parking lots must hold a Lynnwood business license and comply with pavement, accessibility and stall dimension requirements. Park-and-rides operated by transit agencies are exempt. Businesses may choose how they charge for parking, such as month-to-month leases, special event parking or hourly parking. The city would collect sales tax from the parking.

At a public hearing on May 11, some community members worried that even approving an interim ordinance could lead to long-term paid parking in Lynnwood.

“We don’t expect to see transit going north to Everett in the next 10 or 11 years, so what you do now is going to affect what happens here in Lynnwood for 10 or 11 more years,” Lynnwood resident and former council member Ted Heikel said.

Some members of the hotel industry spoke in favor of the paid parking ordinance at the hearing. Emily Sorenson, director of sales for the Courtyard by Marriott in Lynnwood, which is across the street from the light rail station, said that non-guests have been parking at nearby hotels when they’re not able to find parking at the station.

“It does make it a little challenging for hotel businesses in the City Center to be able to make good on our promises to the people who are paying to use our services, to use our building, to be a customer of our business,” Sorenson said.

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.