Mercer Island commission advances draft park-zone rules covering signs, trails, scoreboards and impervious-surface limits

Park and Recreation Commission members spent the bulk of their Feb. 6 meeting reviewing a draft Park Zone code intended to align park-specific development standards with existing park uses and citywide rules.

The commission heard staff present proposed rules covering multiple topics: how wireless communications facilities would be treated; setback and signage limits; standards for scoreboards, kiosks and picnic shelters; a proposed 12-foot maximum for trail widths; guidance (not numeric minimums) on parking; a “no net new” impervious-surface approach with listed exemptions; and lighting requirements framed around shielding and industry-recommended levels.

Staff said wireless communications are already regulated elsewhere in Mercer Island’s municipal code and by state and federal law, and recommended including wireless facilities as a permitted use in the Park Zone with design-and-concealment language like the city’s Open Space Zone. City staff warned that excluding wireless as a permitted use could create conflicting code provisions and invite appeals, because state and federal rules limit local authority over such deployments.

On setbacks, staff proposed language carried over from the Open Space Zone plus a short list of site features explicitly exempted from a setback…