Local business owners and Chamber of Commerce members gathered at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center (MICEC) on April 2 to have their monthly luncheon, and to discuss how the city’s Town Center visioning process could be improved from an economic perspective.

The meeting was facilitated by Julia Walton of 3 Square Blocks, a consultant hired to help with the Town Center code update, first drafted in 1994.

“The 1994 vision is still quite valid, but it is quite general,” Walton said. “Now we’re going through and adding more detail … The camera is coming into sharper focus.”

Chamber members asked about the possibility of adding underground parking, making rents more affordable and creating a large park or plaza downtown. One idea that’s been floated by the Town Center group is to regularize the curved road by the drive-through Starbucks on 27th Street and create a public space there.

Kay Hirai of Studio 904, who is also in the Town Center stakeholders group, said that the city needs to create a friendlier environment for businesses, not just shoppers and pedestrians.

“Mercer Island has a reputation as a place where a retailer can’t make it. We’re fighting against a negative image,” she said. “We have to market that this is a place to come to, or the Island has to make a commitment to give their business to local business.”

Diane Larson, owner of Mercer Island Florist, questioned whether a “vibrant” vision for downtown really reflects the desires of the community.

“Do people truly want use to become a destination, and for people from other neighborhoods to come here and shop?” she asked. “We’re not Queen Anne, Madison Park or University Village, and we never will be. We should enjoy what we have.”

Other retailers, including Jim Clarke of the newly opened Clarke & Clarke Art and Artifacts, said that he had a more optimistic view.

“People are looking for a reason to be out and about,” he said, noting that the city could reach out to other businesses to move to Mercer Island and bring their client bases with them to bring diversity, interest and excitement to the downtown area.

But, he said, businesses can’t rely on foot traffic alone to survive. A lot of Clarke & Clarke’s business comes from online. Still, he said, Island retailers need to “get the word out there and talk about it in an exciting way.”

Mercer Island Center for the Arts (MICA) Director Louise Kincaid, who used to work for Village Theater, said the new performing and visual arts venue could bring a new vibe to the Town Center.

“Before Village Theater came to Issaquah, it was sleepy too,” Kincaid said. “When Village Theater is dark, which is probably 40 nights a year, Issaquah is dark.”

The next Town Center stakeholder meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the MICEC, and the next public input meeting will be at 7 p.m. on April 27 at City Hall. See the calendar online for more.