New parking lot is ‘a bad idea’
Putting a large Park & Ride lot on the sunny view hill behind the Community Center is a bad idea for many reasons.
First, it will be another magnet for off-islanders swamping the Island and neighborhoods, looking for parking as they try to avoid high parking fees in Seattle.
A Park & Ride lot at the community center will cause noise and light nuisance to neighboring homes and neighborhoods, and increase traffic and congestion on Island streets and intersections in areas already burdened by heavy traffic.
Transit will run from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. if the light rail hours are similar to Central Link. The Park & Ride lot will consequently likely be open for use before 5 a.m. and later than 1 a.m., Monday – Saturday (and until midnight on Sunday).
The proposed location is far from the transit station for seniors, or parents with young children, or anyone carrying a heavier shopping bag or luggage. Ditto for persons who cannot walk well.
Finally, and very importantly, that hill area is already under the Luther Burbank Park Master Plan.
The Luther Burbank Park Master Plan was adopted by the unanimous vote of seven city council members and was widely supported by Islanders. It was the subject of years of expensive city staff and consultant work, and years of community process, public involvement and ultimately community consensus embodied in the Master Plan.
The sunny hilltop area at issue is used and enjoyed today, as public open space and lake and mountain viewpoint. Under the Master Plan, that use is to be improved and continued “for decades to come.” It is the planned site of an iconic Mercer Island viewpoint, formal garden and water feature, and already has trails integrating it fully into the park.
City councilman Dan Grausz is telling the public that the hill top area is not included in the Master Plan. He is telling people that its inclusion in the Plan was a “mistake.”
Grausz’s memory is contrary to the official records of the City Council vote and council meeting minutes; the Agenda Bills and exhibits that were provided to councilmembers prior to their vote; contrary to city staff presentations and letter from the city’s consultant; and contrary to the contents of the Master Plan itself, a copy of which was repeatedly provided and presented to councilmembers prior to their vote.
All clearly evidence what land was intended to be included in the Master Plan. It clearly included the sunny hilltop where the Park & Ride lot is proposed to be located.
Public open space on a rare sunny high hilltop with sweeping lake and mountain views should not be turned into a Park & Ride lot.
There was a Dec. 1 City Council study session on this topic, at City Hall, starting at 6 p.m.
Lisa Belden
Parking proposal at ‘the hill’ at the Community Center
The area in question was part of the City’s purchase of the old Mercer View School site from the School District. Years later, Luther Burbank Park was purchased by the City from the County. No one disagrees that the area we are talking about as a possible parking site was part of the School District purchase and not part of the County purchase. The hill on the site was created in 2004 from the fill excavated during the construction of the Community Center; it was placed on the property to save the cost of trucking it off site.
The hill is discussed on the last page of the 2006 Luther Burbank Master Plan. The Plan refers to it as “West Hill” – a name that was never used before nor referred to since. I do not recall any Council vote while the Plan was being reviewed that could be interpreted as annexing this to the Park. Instead, I think everyone just ignored this part of the Plan at the time because no one considered it important given everything else that is in Luther Burbank Park which needed to be addressed. Yes, it is in the Plan but its inclusion is due more to inattention than to anything else.
I am not saying that putting the parking lot there is or is not a good idea. We are studying this and until that is completed, it would be inappropriate for Councilmembers to make a decision. There are many valid reasons to argue against placing the lot next to the Community Center as there are reasons to support it going there. What I object to, however, is calling it part of Luther Burbank Park and using that as the reason for opposition. Luther Burbank Park is a beautiful place that many of us have fought very hard to preserve and protect. Using it in this way to fight the Park and Ride does it a great disservice and misleads people in a way that I would not have expected opponents to resort to.
Dan Grausz
Deputy Mayor
For more see http://www.mercergov.org/files/MICEC_Parking_FAQ_21Nov2014.pdf.
