REPORTER
Mercer Island www.mi-reporter.com
Serving the Mercer Island Community Serving community Since since 1947 1947
MI | THIS WEEK
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 | 75¢ Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Islanders to take over deli
Polo team plunge
City Planning Commission tonight Are you concerned about more growth and development on the Island over the next few years? If so, it is time to find out more and get involved. The Mercer Island Planning Commission meets at 7 p.m, tonight in the Council Chambers at City Hall to continue its work on the 2015 Comprehensive Plan Update. The plan sets the guidelines for land use and development on the Island. It is required by the State Growth Management Act, and must be consistent with regional plans. For more, go the www. mercergov.org and click on the ‘agendas and minutes’ tab on the left side of the screen and select the Planning Commission.
Classmates to open ‘Homegrown’ store here By Celina Kareiva
ckareiva@mi-reporter.com
Japanese Culture Fair this weekend The 17th annual Aki Matsuri Fall festival, to celebrate Japanese arts and culture is Sept. 6 and 7, on the Bellevue College Campus. For details, see page 5.
Firefighters to ask Islanders to ‘Fill the Boot On Sept. 8, watch for Mercer Island Firefighters at Island Crest Way and S.E. 40th Street, asking drivers and walkers to help fill a boot full of cash, Proceeds will benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Tiny house is not ‘right fit’ for Island
Couple requests variances for 1,500 s.f. home on a 2,300 s.f. lot By Mary L. Grady
editor@mi-reporter.com
A tiny lot at the corner of 71st Avenue S.E. and S.E. 22nd Street has brought a neighborhood together in protest as a couple wishes to build a new home. The lot - just 2,300 square feet in size, was purchased by a couple from Redmond who wish to build compact but modern house on the land which faces north toward the tennis courts at Aubrey Davis Park.
Despite its small footprint, it is zoned R-96 for a residential structure with a minimum lot size of 9,600 s.f. Yet, the lot, originally some 6,000 s.f. was cut in half when the state condemned land for construction of the lid over Interstate 90 in the 1970s. While the size of the lot was the primary point of contention, neighbors are also at odds with the design of the house, which they contend is too tall and out of character from the rest of the people who live along 71st Avenue S.E. The applicants for the home, had requested variances from the city to allow narrowed setbacks and an increase the gross floor area and the amount of impervi-
ous surface. The present allowed limit for gross floor area is 45 percent. The applicant was asking for 77 percent. City Development Services staff recommended that the variances regarding reduced setbacks should be allowed. Yet, city staff recommended that increases in the gross floor area and impervious surfaces, be denied. Changes in setbacks and the adjustment in the gross floor area or impervious surfaces would allow the three-level structure to have projections from the roof such as an overhang over the front door or a bump-out that would allow a bathroom to hold a full size tub, or a cover over a walkway. In order to add more living space, the applicants could build a basement to increase the size of the home. However, City planner, Shana Crick said that the small size of the lot does not preclude it from
Deli | Page 5
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The Islanders take on the Braves of Bishop Blanchett High School of Seattle at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 5 at Islander Stadium. The MIHS Marching Band will perform at halftime. For more details, go to http://www. mifootball.org/.
Carol Gullstad / Special to the Reporter
Members of the Mercer Island High School boys water polo team head into Lake Washington to swim across the lake and return to the Island by running across I-90. It is a team tradition.
Green Edition
MIHS Football begins Friday night
Homegrown, a local chain of sandwich shops, will replace the family-owned Stopsky’s restaurant this fall and the new owners are native Islanders. Ben Friedman and Brad Gillis have been friends since age 5, attended Mercer Island High School and launched their business plan in 2009, quickly growing to the eight stores now scattered throughout the Northwest. “We always wanted to put a store on Mercer Island, for sure,” says Friedman. But it’s a difficult place to be in business. Most people leave the Island to eat. We grew up here and I can remember when we went out to eat, we often
Tiny | Page 3
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