Lynnwood to allow commercial paid parking for another 6 months

Published 1:38 pm Tuesday, October 13, 2026

EVERETT — The Lynnwood City Council will allow paid parking in commercial areas for an additional six months.

The council voted 6-1 on Monday to extend the six-month ordinance. Council member Isabel Mata voted against the extension.

The council originally passed the ordinance in May — ahead of the FIFA World Cup — in hopes of relieving the pressure stemming from high parking demand at the city’s light rail station.

Community Planning Manager Karl Almgren said staff wish to extend the ordinance to see if other properties will start offering paid parking.

Currently, only the developer of Northline Village has participated in the paid parking program, Almgren said. Northline Village, a large housing and retail development near the City Center, has faced significant delays due to construction costs. The location at 19800 44th Ave. W, near the light rail station, is currently an empty, paved lot and has been providing 200 spaces of paid parking.

“They represented that this is a way for them to use some of the adjacency of their site because there’s been a need demonstrated by the community, and it allows them to provide a mechanism for liability insurance,” Almgren said. “… They have identified that the parking is relatively full.”

Development and Business Services Director Ben Wolters said that the owner of Alderwood Mall is also looking at paid parking for the highest demand sections of its parking lot.

Almgren said he had received questions about adding additional fees or use taxes, which he said the council could look at once the extension expires in June. The city currently collects sales tax from the parking.

The council held a public hearing on the ordinance Monday. Lynnwood resident Quinn Van Order was the only person to speak, saying he was against adding fees.

“Nothing persists like the temporary,” he said. “… If those fees go back to the city, that’s a revenue stream the city will then become addicted to. So I’d rather we didn’t do this, but if we do, do not make it a revenue stream for the city, or this is permanent, and we can’t pretend it’s temporary.”

Some council members said they supported the six-month extension, but were hesitant about making paid parking permanent. Council President Nick Coelho said he was in favor of extending the ordinance to see how the upcoming farmers market at the light rail station could impact parking. He said the market should be up and running by late spring or early summer in 2027.

Mata, who was the sole vote against the ordinance, said allowing paid parking doesn’t solve the root of the parking problem. She said she’d rather invest in making it easier for people to get to the light rail by walking, biking or using public transit.

“This is a temporary fix that’s going to have negative implications for us in the future,” she said. “… I don’t think that this aligns with our city’s values as being a safe place to walk and get around without needing a car. A lot of our residents don’t have cars, and if they’re not able to get to the transit center, then we have a bigger problem.”

Council member David Parshall said the city can work on access to the light rail while allowing paid parking.

”We’re trying to tread a little bit of a middle ground here,” he said. “… We can still work on making Lynnwood easier and safer to get around, and also we can provide some small temporary relief and fix some of those spot problems that people are having.”

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