Future Development of Marysville

The City of Marysville and the surrounding urban area have changed dramatically over the past decade. Rapid population growth has brought challenges and opportunities to the city. During the next 20 years, Marysville’s population is expected to grow approximately 53%, from 53,000 to approximately 80,000 people. The City has engaged its citizens and businesses in an economic development strategy intended to help transform this bedroom community into a more balanced live-work environment with jobs to balance housing. Civic leaders are exploring opportunities to stimulate economic growth, ease traffic and congestion, transform the downtown/waterfront, improve neighborhoods, and deliver effective public services and infrastructure.

These public improvements have the City taking on a new look in the Downtown with new services for the community and infrastructure for future growth. A new spirit of cooperation has emerged with neighboring jurisdictions including Snohomish County, the Tulalip Tribes and Arlington.

While the overall guidance of the City’s 1996 plan remains relevant, citizens, business leaders and elected officials want to implement change at a faster and more aggressive pace with respect to business growth, quality residential, commercial and industrial growth, and well planned balanced growth in the Marysville area. These key priorities were spelled out in the City’s economic development plan written in 2002.

This Comprehensive Plan Update will establish the framework and regulatory guidance in our land use planning to meet current community mandates.
These priorities are:

1. Enhance Community Image and Identity
2. Improve Existing Business Opportunities and Expand & Diversify the Economic Base through Business Attraction and Retention Efforts
3. Support Recreation and Tourism Advantages
4. Improve Transportation and Infrastructure
5. Improve Government and Regulatory Environment
6. Enhance Employment and Housing Opportunities through Workforce Education and Training

The City is actively implementing its strategic plan with respect to each of these priorities. Citizens, business leaders appointed and elected officials have committed their time and efforts to taking steps to create a better Marysville. This plan will help realize that vision in terms of shaping, guiding and regulating future development in the Marysville urban growth area.

Some of the focus areas that have emerged in the plan development are revitalizing the downtown and downtown waterfront as a key to the image and identity, tourism and recreation potential of the Marysville community. To that end, the City conducted a separate Downtown Vision Plan. Marysville’s Downtown embodies the image and entity of our community to both internal and external visitors.

As we envision the future Marysville, we have chosen to use historical neighborhood areas as the basis for future land use planning. These neighborhoods, centered around historic community services (often commercial uses and schools), are the foundation of new plans for strengthening our neighborhood connections. It is our intent in pursuing this plan, to effectuate stronger community participation, leadership and an active, caring and involved citizenry.

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Key Downtown Vision Concepts:

1. Promote pedestrian-oriented redevelopment of the Town Center Mall.
2. Maintain and strengthen the “main street” character of 3rd Street between State and Columbia and State Avenue between 2nd and 4thStreets.
3. Provide a safe and attractive north-south pedestrian connection from Comeford Park (via Delta Avenue) through the Town Center Mall site to the planned riverfront park and boat launch.
4. Provide substantial landscaping and streetscape improvements on 4th Street through downtown to enhance the character and identity of downtown.
5. Foster a vibrant mix of uses in the southwest sector of downtown. Allow residential uses on the ground floor to complement other uses and add “around the clock” vitality to the area.
6. Promote the redevelopment of the riverfront properties with a mix of waterfront-oriented retail, office, and residential uses. Develop a continuous waterfront pathway with recreational amenities and ecological restoration.
7. Retain the historic residential scale and character of development in the southeastern sector of downtown east of Columbia Avenue.
8. Actively promote pedestrian-oriented mixed-use development surrounding Comeford Park.
9. Actively work with Sound Transit to encourage the development of a commuter rail station within downtown. Consider sites adjacent to the Town Center or between 5th and 7th Streets. Plan for “transit-oriented uses” surrounding such a rail station (this includes high intensity residential and supporting commercial uses).
10. Develop design standards and guidelines to upgrade the quality of development in the downtown
    area and incorporate design goals specific to individual sectors.