Shorewood will add 90 apartments

Project to include 165 parking stalls, may pay school impact fees pending Council approval.

June 16, 2015 3:37 pm
An artist’s rendering of what one of the new apartment buildings will look like at Shorewood.
An artist’s rendering of what one of the new apartment buildings will look like at Shorewood.

Soon, 90 more units may be available to rent at the Shorewood Heights Apartment complex.

Shorewood submitted an application on Feb. 17, requesting design review for multi-family development. According to the application, Shorewood is planning to build two three-story apartment buildings with parking garages, surface parking and related access road and Fire Department access road improvements.

The first new building will have 21 two-bedroom units, 30 one-bedroom units, six studios and 108 parking stalls. The second building will have 15 two-bedroom apartments and 18 studios, according to the application packet, with 57 parking stalls.

These plans have been in the works for a while. Development Services Group (DSG) Director Scott Greenberg said that Shorewood had submitted an application for about 100 units right before the recession hit. The permit expired before the units could be built.

Shorewood has changed ownership and management in the interim, and this scope of work is a little different from the previous proposal, senior planner Travis Saunders. The current ownership group, Oly Ida Shorewood Heights, LLC, took over in September 2010.

Shorewood is also applying for a parking variance. The multi-family code requires two parking spots per unit, Saunders said. Shorewood’s proposed ratio is 1.47 stalls per unit, a number on which they based a traffic impact analysis included with the application. They also submitted a State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) checklist, geotechnical engineering report and arborist report.

Many Islanders have expressed concerns lately about the impact of new apartment buildings on the Mercer Island school system. Shorewood’s new developments are subject to a school district mitigation fee under SEPA, which was updated in March.

But mitigation fees only apply to units with two or more bedrooms, so the School Board decided to collect Growth Management Act (GMA) impact fees instead. Impact fees apply to all units and to some single-family residence development, bringing in more revenue for schools.

If the City Council adopts school impact fees prior to issuance of a building permit, Shorewood would be subject to the higher fee, Greenberg said.

Written comments on the proposal must be submitted on or before Monday, June 22, 2015 at 5 p.m., either in person or mailed to the City of Mercer Island at 9611 S.E. 36th St. After the comment period and environmental review, a Design Commission review will be scheduled.