I moved here from California 40 years ago in 1975 when Boeing was just recovering. Deciding where to live (whether the Eastside, Montlake, Queen Ann, Fauntleroy, etc.) took some time, but the choice was obvious: Mercer Islanders valued their schools and were willing to pay for good education.

We shunned the overly-manicured landscaping of too-close-together homes and were conformably middle-class near what is now The Lakes. Our home-life experiences in the Los Angeles South Bay had been suburban.

Everything “Mercer Island” — except waterfront — fit the bill. Our children made friends, horses shared the neighborhood. Some other of the small town features we experienced anew are described as follows.

The copy machine at City Hall was immediately inside the front door and a topo-map was free. Grocery at Art’s in the Town Center, gifts from Rileys, VW service at the quaint place on 81st Avenue, Ace Hardware (where McDonald’s is now), “Tuk” at QFC, a family run drug store, Keith at the Other Place — these were and became the delights of our new hometown.

At first, we were unaware that the Island had no “vision” for vibrancy, nor for affordable housing, much less workplace housing (after all, teachers want time to themselves away from kids and their parents — well no: Pepple and Light, Fran and the Bartons did stretch out). We single family homeowners had no need for vibrancy. But things change.

Big city influences crossed the bridge and were spawned in City Council, big government, of course. It happens because property taxes and developers force rents to increase. Businesses leave and (sad to say) visions appear. Town Center property owners inherit needs and so does the tax assessor.

Best or highest use drives assessments. Bigger, higher buildings spread the effect throughout. One wonders why it needs be a never-ending burden, and one expects appropriate zoning to bring relief.

I expect a Comprehensive Plan with zoning and regulation that does not include amenities for height (and associated population growth) to be a result of the Joint Commission’s work. My recommendation is to put forth “alternative C” to best fill the bill of that expectation: Three story building height (limit, not more) south of Southeast 27th Street.

An absolute, two-story limit would be even better.

Lloyd Gilman

Mercer Island