No Diving at Mukilteo?!?!

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Pez7378

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Location
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A few weeks ago, we got word that the City of Mukilteo had established a new park rule that would essentially ban diving from the Mukilteo Lighthouse City Park. (Formerly Mukilteo State Park).

Northwest Dive Club • View topic - Mukilteo Lighthouse Park - NO diving?

People were organized. Letters were written. Phone calls were made, and it looks like the city is willing to take another look at their revised list of rules pertaining to Scuba Diving in Mukilteo.

Our members have spoken with a number of prominent people in the diving community. Mike Racine of the WSA, John Rawlings of the NWDC, and Janna Nichols of REEF will all be there to speak to the Council members.

The rest of us are just going to show up to support our speakers, and to impress upon the city how important this site is to the local diving community. I want to be perfectly clear here, the City is very receptive to us at this point. We've been very cordial, and diplomatic and have opened the necessary line of communication necessary to get this rule overturned. Now we just need numbers. This is one last push, to invite our fellow divers to attend this Council Meeting and show our support. All this will happen Monday night March 2, 2009 at the Mukilteo City Council Meeting at 7:00 pm

Mukilteo City Hall
Address: 11930 Cyrus Way
NEW Phone Number: 425-263-8000

Council meetings are held in the City Hall Council Chambers on the first and third Mondays (Monday March 2nd) of each month beginning at 7:00 PM unless posted otherwise.


Following the Meeting, several people will be heading over to the famous Mukilteo Diamond Knot Brewery for a cold one.
 
Just a little update. We had roughly 30 divers attend the city Council meeting on Monday. That was easily about half of the total attendance. John Rawlings of Advanced Diver Magazine, Janna nichols of REEF, and Mike Racine of the Washington Scuba Alliance spoke on behalf of the local diving community. If not for the restraint of the city attorney, I think the council would have overturned the rule right then and there!



It looks very positive, and we are hopeful that we'll have an answer soon. Apparently, there was a writer for one of the local papers that just happened to be there, and took great interest in our story. I've also heard that some of the council members were so impressed with the photographs that were provided, and the enthusiasm of the divers in attendance that they are now wanting to be certified to dive!!
 
Well, there's been quite a turnaround since the last post on this issue. Last night, a handful of NW divers attended a meeting held at the Mukilteo City hall for the Mukilteo Recreation and Arts Commission. After a few comments by Jennifer Berner the director, and a few public comments from a few of our members, as well as two city council members, the RAC voted 6-0 to:

1) Rescind the rule banning diving at the park
2) Post signage stating that there is no lifeguard on duty and to enter the water at your own risk
3) Place a 100' boundary around the boat launch
4) Explore the possibility of establishing an Underwater Park!

March 20th will be the day that the Mukilteo City Council votes once and for all on this issue, and at this point, it looks like we may have not only managed to retain a popular dive site, but to gain the acceptance and support of the local municipality!
 
Double post!
 
Awesome! It's great that the divers up there joined together and made a good case to the city council.

The system worked!!!!

Congrats to you all.
 
Pez, I'm thinkin ya ment april 20 th, march has past. or did it pass on march 20th.

Under water park would be simple since boat launch is right there, What bruce did in thirty years can be done in three years.



Happy Diving
 
Pez, I'm thinkin ya ment april 20 th, march has past. or did it pass on march 20th.

Under water park would be simple since boat launch is right there, What bruce did in thirty years can be done in three years.



Happy Diving

Where does the time go?! Of course you are correct. Thanks. April 20th the Muk. City Council will meet and hopefully put an end to this once and for all. We'll be there as well!

I'm not sure the LHP site is the best place for an Underwater Park, although, given the currents it would be full of life. I personally believe that due to the fact that it would attract divers of all levels, that the "brickyard" between the T-dock (Silver Cloud site) and the Oildock would be a better idea. It's relatively flat, reaching depths of 40-70 fsw and perhaps deeper in spots with little current. The new location of the Ferry terminal will have an influence as well. I'm sure that if the City is serious about establishing a park, that many of us will make ourselves available for input throughout the process.
 
Front page story in Todays Everett Herald (Apr 8, 2009)

HeraldNet: Mukilteo may reverse rule against diving at Lighthouse Park


Published: Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Mukilteo may reverse rule against diving at Lighthouse Park

By Chris Fyall
Herald Writer

MUKILTEO -- Scuba fins, dive tanks and wetsuits might soon be allowed again at Lighthouse Park as city officials consider overturning a recent ban against scuba diving.

It would be a big reversal for Mukilteo -- the ban was unanimously approved for safety reasons just nine months ago -- but a welcome reprieve for divers, who lost another favorite haunt this winter when the state removed an oil pier rich with marine life from Edmonds' shoreline.

Reopening the park might not be Mukilteo's last pro-scuba step, either.

Council president Randy Lord said embracing scuba divers might be a way to boost the city's above-ground economy. He's already plotting a possible underwater dive park off the city's shoreline, an idea recommended by the city's Parks and Arts Commission.

Scuba divers are thrilled.

"I'm still a bit stunned at how far things turned in our favor within a very short period of time," wrote John Rawlings of Mill Creek on a local diving forum where scuba activists organized.

Rawlings is a professional marine photographer for Advanced Diver magazine and first dove at Lighthouse Park in the 1970s. He has worked all over the world, but Rawlings said Mukilteo's Lighthouse Park is one his favorite places to dive anywhere because of its swift currents and the two long clay walls that are packed with fish, shrimp, crabs and even octopuses.

"It is where I go to Zen out, to mellow out, and to take some photographs of some amazing local stuff," he said. "There's an entire gamut of life and death going on down there."

Officials adopted the ban last year without a full understanding of how many scuba divers used the beach at Lighthouse Park, said Jennifer Berner, the city's Recreation and Cultural Services manager.

A boat launch at the beach is a safety hazard, so the city's insurance company asked the city to close the beach to divers. Now, the insurance company believes installing signs on the beach warning that no lifeguard is on duty will be sufficient, Berner said.

That's great news for the community, said Paul Hamstra, a diver who owns a business in Mukilteo.

Hamstra said that because the ban wasn't well publicized, most divers only found out about it in February.

"We expected to fight tooth and nail for just the opportunity to dive there," he said. But at the time, "Mukilteo was open to listening. And when they were educated about what divers do, and what divers would like to do, they were enthusiastic."
 
BLT:
Front page story in Todays Everett Herald (Apr 8, 2009)

Not just front page BLT, but above the fold! :D


:rofl3:
 
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