Mukilteo weighing rezone of property on waterfront

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 23, 2026

EVERETT — The Mukilteo City Council will hold off on making a decision of whether to rezone a plot of land near the city’s waterfront and open it up to possible commercial development after the council postponed a vote on Monday.

The plot of land, known in city documents as Lot 5, is currently zoned as open space. The site overlooking the water is home to a sparse, gravel-covered park that features a few benches and chairs on a lot just over an acre in size.

City officials asked the council to change the zoning as part of an update to the city’s comprehensive plan because Mukilteo is currently fielding proposals from developers to lease the land and build businesses at the site, which is part of a larger — and long-awaited — effort to build up and revitalize the city’s waterfront. The city council gave the go-ahead to explore leasing the land to developers back in March.

Changing the zoning to Waterfront Mixed Use would allow developers to operate businesses, including retail stores, restaurants or cafes, at the site. The current zoning limits use of the land largely to recreational or park usage.

The city council was set to vote on the rezone Monday, but decided unanimously to push back the vote until Oct. 5 in order to discuss it further.

The waterfront area had served as the home for a U.S. Air Force fuel storage tank farm for decades before it was decommissioned in 1990. After years of environmental cleanup work, the Air Force gave much of the land to the Port of Everett in 2013. In 2016, the port then gave some of the land to the city of Mukilteo with a goal of creating a large, unified, walkable hub for business and tourism including a promenade along the water.

Ten years in, much of that development has not yet come to fruition.

City officials said that the rezone would open up the possibility for developers to build on the site, but they also said that changing the land’s zoning wouldn’t be the council’s final word on how the land is eventually used.

“Open space is allowed in both zones. Should you go forward with this rezone, it doesn’t mean the property has to be changed from a park,” said Sarah Kress, Mukilteo’s senior planner, at Monday’s meeting. “It means you are opening up the opportunity for it to change to something else in the future.”

The city council would also have the final say on whether to accept a development proposal for the site.

Community members have been split over the idea of the rezone, with some hoping the site would remain zoned for open space to keep the property as a park. A 2016 master plan that Mukilteo created for the waterfront redevelopment included a park on site where Lot 5 is located.

Others said opening up the site to new businesses would serve as a better use for the property, drawing more visitors and activity to the waterfront.

Kate Forrester, a Mukilteo resident, told the city council Monday that there has already been too many buildings built and too much concrete covering areas of the city’s waterfront.

“Why do we have to do that? Why can’t we just look at open space and water and some green grass and a promenade, sure, a walking path, a bike path,” Forrester said during public comment. “Why do we have to muck it up in Mukilteo every time?”

Ashvin Sanghvi told the council that the land could be better used as businesses that include a promenade, allowing people to enjoy the waterfront throughout the entire year.

“If you think about bad weather, if you’re sitting in a cafe having a coffee and looking down at the water, that’s way more enjoyable than what we have today,” Sanghvi said. “Today is actually pretty sorry. The view is awesome, but the way the land is being used is nothing.”

Kress said that any development built on the site would have to comply with both city regulations and state laws that require access to the shoreline. The city also is retaining a 20-foot-wide tract of land between Lot 5 and the shore, allowing space for the city and port to build the planned promenade, she said.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.