Comprehensive Plan Amendment Update

Dear Neighbor,

Thank you for engaging with us over the last several weeks as we continue the dialogue and process around our organizations’ Comprehensive Plan Amendment with the City of Mercer Island. Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation and the Stroum Jewish Community Center of Greater Seattle have served the community from our Mercer Island locations since just around 1970. The French American School of Puget Sound moved to Mercer Island in 1999. Together we serve thousands of people at all phases of life, and value the deep relationships we form with those affiliated with our organizations and our broader community.

As you know, our three organizations have worked in close partnership over the years to optimize the space we have on Mercer Island to meet our needs. As we look to the future, our much-loved and well-used facilities are aging, which has financial, operational and maintenance impacts for each of our non-profit organizations. We’ve realized we need to think about a long-term plan that addresses these challenges and allows us to plan for the future while continuing to serve our community with the mission, excellence and heart for which we are known.

As such, we continue to pursue a Comprehensive Plan Amendment and rezone to unify the zoning under our respective properties in a way that lets us look creatively and responsibly toward the future. Our goal is to optimize our shared properties in a manner consistent with the programs and services we deliver, while continuing to be responsible citizens and neighbors in addressing key requirements of modern development.

At our first community open house events in July, and through the recent Planning Commission process, we’ve heard several key topics communicated from neighbors close to our sites. Those topics include: concerns about intersection safety, current/increased traffic and school-time traffic, potential of larger-scale event impacts on parking, questions about building size, the desire for green buffers between the campus and neighbors’ homes, concerns about noise and possible lighting on ball fields at night, the visual appearance of a possible security fence, and overall neighborhood walkability.

We would like to invite you to join us for a continued discussion with our organizations and our architects to discuss these issues (and any others) in greater detail, as well as share an update on the process and our current thinking around project vision and approach.

Wednesday, September 26, 2018
10:00 AM OR 5:30 PM
Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 East Mercer Way, Mercer Island, WA 98040

If you cannot attend and would like to give your input, or for more information, feel free to contact us at future@sjcc.org, future@h-nt.org and/or future@fasps.org.

We hope you can join us for these next discussions and look forward to continuing to discuss these topics and more as a community.

Laura Mousseau Board President, FASPS	Zane Brown Board President, Herzl-Ner Tamid	Liz Friedman Board President, SJCC