Future of Mukilteo Diving

[DanClements]

Thought I would pass along the following information from the latest Mukilteo Beacon. Looks like T-Dock diving is toast.

. . . “What we’ve heard consistently throughout the process is about the issues of parking,” said Patricia Love, the city’s community development director. “We’re looking to balance the uses along the waterfront while still providing adequate parking.”

. . . The following are some of the features included in the preliminary plan, which divides the waterfront into four parts, each with a park and beach access, from east to west:

. . . Downtown features, where the ferry terminal is today, would include improved access to Lighthouse Park; a pocket park; the daylighting of Brewery Creek; the redesign of Front Street as a shared (by pedestrians and vehicles) one-way street; and the relocation of the dive park from Park Avenue.

. . . At Edgewater Beach, features would include the relocated dive park with amenities; beach restoration; a marine sanctuary; two viewing decks; stairs to the beach; and improvements to the park.

You can read the entire article by following this link: http://mukilteobeacon.villagesoup.com/p ... es/1291647.

Cheers,

Dan Clements
425.418.8755
www.e-clements.com

[LCF]

When we attended the city council meeting regarding the waterfront development plan, it was made quite clear that their intent is to move divers all the way to the north end (where I understand the entry is muddy). Although foot access to the T-dock beach will still be present, there will be little to no parking there. The council felt that we got the State Park site and they were giving us the north access; why did we need anything else? There were at least a couple of local residents there to complain about divers using all the parking as it is.

[Rockfish]

Another dive site gone.

Very sad.

I have been diving this site for 25 years and we have had to fight to keep access to it. The Edgewater site is not a good idea. They obviously have no idea how this will affect divers and they probably don't care. Due to the muddy, shallow bottom this site would only be accessible at high tide also longshoremen really do not want us diving around the POE dock.

Our only hope is that the Port does not cede the 5 acres to the city.

I really wish that we had some sort of clout that we could exert. Maybe if when we are in Mukilteo at a business we should tell them that this is the last time we are going to patronize your business because the City Council thru their actions have shown us that they do not want us in their city so we will have to take our business elsewhere. Maybe if enough people did this then the businesses could exert some pressure on the council.

Mike

[ljjames]

I would recommend against boycotting. If we make too much of a negative stink we'll end up with no dive park at all.

What I would recommend is finding a champion on the board and coming forward with an alternate proposal that addresses the concerns of all the stakeholders. Parking and scuba divers has always been a point of contention, how about some pay spaces with a 4 hr limit near the site for example. They could make some money off us (and that is what this is all about)

Has anyone done that as of yet? Offered an alternative?

Here's something to ponder. Back a million years ago, the way you dove the Oil Docks was from the far far parking lot. I pretty much stopped diving the oil docks and exploring the area north of there when they closed the parking lot. The slog from silver cloud seems just a PITA, even with a scooter because of parking etc.. and although I know some folks have done some enhancements and there is the T-dock, in all honesty those feel like small fry compared to the potential of a nice rocky reef.

So go out and do some solid baseline surveys. Figure out how many fish that are species of concern live in the enhancements and around the oil docks. If there are rockfish and such, campaign for a rocky reef to enhance the population. What if they put big rock piles where the pilings are going to be removed from? We know that life will congregate there due to the current... If they did that, I'd dive it over the T-dock any day of the week...

[BillZ]

Below is a a drawing what they are talking about, although from the article it looks like they are mixing elements of both concepts.

http://www.ci.mukilteo.wa.us/SIB/files/ ... 614(1).pdf


Has anybody alerted the city committee that it's probably not a good idea to locate a dive park next to an active port terminal?

[BillZ]

I agree with Laura - It's better to work with people than taking your ball and going home. Realize that the dive community is a pretty small percentage of people in comparison to the general public and other interest groups.

I think it's a positive thing that the planners are actually taking divers into account and building a dive park into the plan. It would be helpful if one of us that lives in Mukilteo could work with the planners, incorporate the needs of divers into the plan, and be part of the planning process.

[RVbldr]

I might have missed something but it looks like the .pdf conflicts with the text in the article. The drawing reflects a potential marine preserve/ dive area pretty much from the existing oil dock to the ferry terminal, but with a marina right in the middle.

[ljjames]

I had not looked at the pdf. The pdf shows something not so different from what we see at Cove 2, minus the foot ferry. its not a full on marine by the looks of it. With all the beach restoration and such, this really doesn't look like a half bad plan. Now we just lobby for a rocky reef in the marine reserve and divers will come out way ahead

[CaptnJack]

I'm not sure what the issue is?

I see 4 potential dive access points although only 2 are actually labeled dive access. The other two only provide "beach access" That's quite a bit more diver access than right now, its just more discontinuous because of the ferry terminal w security zone in between. I suspect they want the ferry terminal moved so its less of a downtown focal point and the traffic que has someplace to go. It would be great to have the north waterfront connected to the clay walls though, that would be a nice scooter dive without the ferry terminal blocking the way. Getting to the oil dock looks more challenging but will depend on the beach access provided. Decent stairs would be fine and waaay better than the rocks people current walk over to get to the oil dock. I saw a woman break her leg on those rocks a few years ago and it was dreadful. EMS access was poor and the tide was rising. They got her out of there but was not pretty.

[BillZ]

So if you look at the second option (Evolving Waterfront) they indicate a dive park at the very end of the waterfront near the Port of Everett Pier. They also have a marine protected area (on both options) that goes from the current ferry dock to about where the old fuel pier is. They designate the MPA as a "Dive Area" also. They have a fishing pier located in the middle of the marine preserve which seems kind of odd.

I checked the NOAA charts of the "Dive Park" area and it's pretty shallow (about 15 ft until you get 100 yards out). It would probably make a good area for classes but not very interesting for others.

They are converting the area next to the Silver Cloud to a small park with stairs (Brewery Creek Park) and a load-unload zone. According to the plan there will be some parking across the street from where the NOAA facility is.

I see this as a net improvement over what is there now. I'll definitely miss the old fuel pier (one of my favorite scooter dives) but if they put in a reef etc. it could end up being a great dive area.

[Rockfish]

I agree that it is better to work with someone rather than hold something over their head however this is a pattern that has repeated itself for years in Mukilteo. We are losing dive sites left and right and the people that are removing them don't care about the impact to divers. At some point we need to become a more vocal minority. One way to become more vocal is to enlist the help of local businesses. They need to realise just how much business the dive community brings to the area. I would love it if when they were making these decisions that they would include the impact to divers in their decisions.
As far as dive sites in Mukilteo the park is not the best place due to limited parkinig especially in the summer (the locals are already complaining about the lack of parking there) also with the boat launch and the current it makes it a challenge especially for new divers to use. At edgewater between the oil dock and POE dock access is ok however north of the POE dock at low tide you have to cross a mud flat and a fully loaded diver will sink to their knees before they even get close to the water. The oil dock is going to be completely removed and the new ferry dock is going to be sited about half way down the old dock. I can't imaging that they will allow diving between the ferry dock and the POE dock. We tried holding some classes at edgewater and it just does not work. The t-dock is ideal for classes hence the reason why we see so many classes using that location. It has little to no current it has a sandy bottom it has a gradual slope that leads to depth relatively close in and there are already some enhancements.
I guess I'm a little sensitive to seeing access going to be limited I have been diving there for 25 years and I think of it as my local dive spot.

Mike

[Nwbrewer]

I agree that it is better to work with someone rather than hold something over their head however this is a pattern that has repeated itself for years in Mukilteo. We are losing dive sites left and right and the people that are removing them don't care about the impact to divers. At some point we need to become a more vocal minority. One way to become more vocal is to enlist the help of local businesses. They need to realise just how much business the dive community brings to the area. I would love it if when they were making these decisions that they would include the impact to divers in their decisions.
As far as dive sites in Mukilteo the park is not the best place due to limited parkinig especially in the summer (the locals are already complaining about the lack of parking there) also with the boat launch and the current it makes it a challenge especially for new divers to use. At edgewater between the oil dock and POE dock access is ok however north of the POE dock at low tide you have to cross a mud flat and a fully loaded diver will sink to their knees before they even get close to the water. The oil dock is going to be completely removed and the new ferry dock is going to be sited about half way down the old dock. I can't imaging that they will allow diving between the ferry dock and the POE dock. We tried holding some classes at edgewater and it just does not work. The t-dock is ideal for classes hence the reason why we see so many classes using that location. It has little to no current it has a sandy bottom it has a gradual slope that leads to depth relatively close in and there are already some enhancements.
I guess I'm a little sensitive to seeing access going to be limited I have been diving there for 25 years and I think of it as my local dive spot.

Mike

Looking at the .pdf that was posted, it still looks like there will be access to the site we all call the T-dock. Parking won't be as convenient, and if it's going to be an MPA we won't be able to crab there anymore, but it looks like access to the site will remain. If the plan is really what's shown in that pdf, I think it will be a pretty equitable swap, we lose the oil dock (which isn't long for this world no matter what happens), but we gain all the area between the current "T-dock" site and the Lighthouse park. (Scooter win!) It looks like there might even be a net improvement in total parking spots, though not as close to the water as what we all enjoy now, and they will most likely be pay spots.

[CaptnJack]

Looking at the .pdf that was posted, it still looks like there will be access to the site we all call the T-dock. Parking won't be as convenient, and if it's going to be an MPA we won't be able to crab there anymore, but it looks like access to the site will remain. If the plan is really what's shown in that pdf, I think it will be a pretty equitable swap, we lose the oil dock (which isn't long for this world no matter what happens), but we gain all the area between the current "T-dock" site and the Lighthouse park. (Scooter win!) It looks like there might even be a net improvement in total parking spots, though not as close to the water as what we all enjoy now, and they will most likely be pay spots.

Yeah the pdf plan actually looked pretty good to me. Parking is going to be an escalating issue no matter what. Perhaps the City could develop an annual pass of some sort to help mitigate the hassles for frequent users? I doubt it would be much cheaper (they are unlikely to want less parking revenue) just more convenient.

[Rockfish]

Well if this progresses as well as the rest of the government projects around here we will probably be able to dive this location for a long time.

I wonder what the thinking is behind creating a "potential" MPA at that location unless they are going to put in some structure that will hold fish there really is not much down there except for the things that some divers have put in place.

Mike

[Rockfish]

One other thing I noticed in lookinig at the PDF is that there are a lot of "potential" things that they might do. Nothing appears to be firm.

Mike

[CaptnJack]

One other thing I noticed in lookinig at the PDF is that there are a lot of "potential" things that they might do. Nothing appears to be firm.

Mike

Its a plan, they don't have money for any of it. Typically master plans get adopted then as funding becomes available bits and pieces get done. One comment might be that recreational/access improvements be funded as mitigation for transportation infrastructure enlargements. WSDOT is likely to lobby that removal of (creosote) pilings is the mitigation and their money shouldn't go towards habitat mitigation efforts or diver access.

[loanwolf]

One other thing I noticed in lookinig at the PDF is that there are a lot of "potential" things that they might do. Nothing appears to be firm.

Mike

If they don't get the 5 acres then the whole plan is out the window.