MUKILTEO — Mukilteo recently passed a population milestone.
For the first time, the city is reporting a population of more than 20,000 to the state Office of Financial Management, Mukilteo officials said. The city’s official estimate, based on the number of homes in the city, is 20,001.
“I knew we were close, I just didn’t know which side of it we were on,” Mukilteo City Council President Randy Lord said.
The milestone means the city is now required by law to allow mother-in-law apartments to be built on properties with single family homes. The City Council has started discussing an ordinance to allow small accessory apartments.
A more important benchmark will be occur once the city’s population passes 25,000, City Councilwoman Jennifer Gregerson said. At that point, the city will take responsibility for the Mukilteo Speedway from the state Department of Transportation.
City planners have long discussed adding traffic signals or turn lanes to Mukilteo Speedway, but the state’s management of the road, designated as Highway 525, would likely complicate the city’s efforts, city officials have said.
“But 20,000 is still a significant mark,” Gregerson said.
The city could grow well beyond 25,000 people by 2009 if the city is successful in annexing thousands of acres of land south of the city. The area Mukilteo wants to annex would add about 12,000 people.
“It’s 20,001 that we submitted; if (the state) takes off two, that puts us below 20,000,” Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine said. “But with our annexation, we’ll blow past that.”
The city is close to being built out, so rapid population growth is unlikely until an annexation occurs, Lord said.
“Right now, I don’t see runaway growth in the city, and I think everything we’re doing is being controlled,” Lord said. “That said, I think we still are meeting the needs of the citizens.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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