By Wendy Giroux

Citizens can comment during public hearing

Last month, City Council members had their first chance to ask questions about and comment on proposed changes to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, which must be updated to comply with state law.

City staff members crafted the proposed amendments, which then went through an extensive review process with the Planning Commission.

The proposed changes include:

? Technical edits, such as new housing and job targets, growth and traffic forecasts and planned improvements.

? New and revised policies about transportation concurrency, economic development, parks and open space, environment, housing choice and affordability and essential public facilities. Examples include a new economic development element, the addition of policies about parks and open space and more specific environmental policies.

Land use designations and zoning boundaries are not proposed to be changed. There are proposed changes to the city’s Critical Area Ordinance; those will be examined by the council in a separate process once the Comprehensive Plan has been adopted.

The council will hold a public hearing about the amendments at the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22; the issue also will be discussed at the March 7 meeting.

Councilman Steve Litzow asked staff members to clarify which of the proposals were necessary in order to comply with the state Growth Management Act (GMA) and which were “extras.”

Principal Planner Gabe Snedeker said the environmental and concurrency policies are strongly related to the GMA requirements, and that proposals related to parks and open space policies were the ideas of the Planning Commission. An idea to allow cottage-style housing would help meet a GMA goal but was also supported by the Planning Commission, Snedeker said. One proposed element about economic development is not a state requirement, but something Chamber of Commerce members support, he said.

Councilman El Jahncke said he would like to see the subject of private property rights addressed in greater detail to help balance out the added environmental policies.

In the transportation portion, Jahncke said he would like to see more mention of vehicle traffic, instead of just pedestrian and transit options. He also said he was worried about a goal in the transportation section to promote bicycle riding, because he feels there are many issues involving bicycles that need to be worked out first. (The council will begin to examine the relationships between bicycle, pedestrian and vehicle traffic — both from the general transportation and infrastructure side as well as at accident data — at its next meeting on Feb. 7.)

The cottage housing proposal concerned Councilman Bryan Cairns. Cottage housing calls for smaller, detached homes clustered together on a site, often around a common garden or other feature.

“I understand there’s a need for lower-cost housing options for some segments of the population,” Cairns said.

However, he worries that many Island residents will think the proposal is in essence a zoning change.

Councilman Sven Goldmanis said he would like to see more attention to the transportation issues, particularly on the north end of the Island, such as congested intersections and parking.

Snedeker and City Manager Rich Conrad agreed those are important issues.

“I think that in the next year or year-and-a-half, we will encounter a number of deficiencies (at certain intersections),” Conrad said.

Planning Commission Chair Bill Chapman told council members that staff and commission members worked hard to make sure the increased regulations were balanced with added flexibility.

Copies of the draft amendments to the Comprehensive Plan are available on the city’s Web site at www.ci.mercer-island.wa.us/compplan or paper copies can be reviewed for free or purchased for $12 at the customer service counter at City Hall, 9611 S.E. 36th St.