The South Whidbey School District Board of Directors are moving forward with a study of shared parking with the Port of South Whidbey and other organizations at Langley Middle School.

The goal is to create a long-term parking agreement with the groups to utilize each parking space in the congested Langley area.

The project will monitor parking usage for the 2014 boating season to establish how the space is used.

City of Langley Community Planning Director Jeff Arango and Port of South Whidbey Finance Director Angi Mozer met with several users of the parking space to get an idea of seasonal usage at the middle school bus barn area.

Arango said the project aims to determine the most efficient use of parking facilities with multiple users: the school, Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, Whidbey Children’s Theater, Island Shakespeare Festival and users from the Whidbey Island Area Fair, are the most frequent users of the parking lot.

Port Commissioner Curt Gordon attended the meeting to support the project. He said the city’s congestion is a problem.

“I think the most environmental and practical way to do this is some kind of shared parking,” he said.

Board member Fred O’Neal said he felt the board had a positive outlook for the project, but for a long-term agreement he needed numbers.

“We just need something specific to react to,” he said.