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Parking at Lighthouse Park will look a tad different over the next few months, as the City is going to test a pilot parking program at the waterfront from October through March for 33 “low demand” paid parking spaces.

Currently, the City has roughly 250 paid parking stalls at its most visited park, which does not include the boat launch, ADA spots, or commuter parking stalls.

With this pilot program, 33 spots that are among the least used, or in the lowest demand historically, would be open to extended hours. The spots would be available to park in for a maximum of 12 hours, rather than the current maximum of four hours, Community Development Director Dave Osaki said.

“They’re all striped yellow,” he said. “There are two meters that are used for this, and they’re the only two meters that work for this. They’re close to those spaces.”

The 33 spots are on the southwest side of Lighthouse Park, next to the volleyball court and the railroad track.

“The history in the past and accounts from the rangers and police department show the demand for that area is typically low,” Osaki said. “We want to make sure that there’s no conflict when the demand for parking increases. These are typically the least used spaces during the least used time of the year.”

The goal is to start the program Oct. 15, Osaki said, while the end date is March 15.

“That seemed like a comfortable (end) date before the busier season down there,” Osaki said.

The City discussed a pilot program like this late last year, and the initial plan was to debut the program this past January. But a few things got in the way.

“We wanted to do early January but we had issues with the reliability of the meters. One of them wasn’t working properly,” Osaki said. “We didn’t want to roll out this new program when one of the two was busted.”

Then, when it looked like everything was good to go, the snow hit. And it hit hard.

“It covered up all the stalls, and then when it settled down, it hit again,” Osaki said. “When things finally got all settled down, it was already March and it wasn’t worth it to have this program for only a few weeks.”

Now, the City will have the opportunity to accumulate five months of data from the program.

What’s important to note with these spaces are that it doesn’t change the rule about no overnight parking at Lighthouse Park. That falls from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Additionally, there is no minimum time that one would need to park there, and while it’s unlikely residents with parking passes would choose that area to park during the non-peak months, they are still able to park there free while the pilot program occurs.

“If someone wants to park out there and take a long walk to Diamond Knot, they’re more than welcome,” Osaki said, laughing.

Osaki gave a presentation to the council on Monday, Sept. 16, but the start of the program did not require council approval. He did want to reiterate that the program is a pilot program, and starting March 16 those stalls will revert to the regular four hour maximum.

On Tuesday, Osaki said that City staff will provide an update to council likely in mid-January with how the program is progressing. That update may not occur at a council meeting or worksession, however, and may just be through email, Osaki said.

There will be flyers available in the area with need-to-know information about the program, and the City already has signs ready to go up.

For those wishing to learn more about the program, or those who want to see a map or the draft flyer, visit the City of Mukilteo’s website (mukilteowa.gov) and go to “Meeting Agendas, Minutes, Audio & Video,” and click the Sept. 16 agenda. Then, click AB19-115 under item number 10.

Quick facts

Date: Mid-October through March 15

Total spots: 33

Maximum timeframe: 12 hours

No parking when?: 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Parking meters used: Two

Reservation allowed?: No