Following public outcry regarding the proposal to build a parking lot on the hill next to the Community and Event Center (MICEC), the city hired a consultant to study alternative sites for commuter parking.

Mayor Bruce Bassett said that in response to a question in the last biennial survey about how Town Center can be improved, 22 percent of Islanders said to “increase parking” and 11 percent said to “stop building and development.”

Priorities seem to have shifted in the past month, and the Council wants to focus on the city’s comprehensive planning and Town Center visioning processes before continuing to study parking.

A potential parking facility would ideally be paid for by Sound Transit as mitigation for “loss of mobility” with the coming of light rail and the closure of the I-90 center lanes, which means it would need to be operational by the time the South Bellevue Park and Ride closes in 2017. After South Bellevue is reopened, the lot would operate as a Mercer Island-only facility.

The parking consultant, Ben Pariser, was told to explore properties that are owned by the city, and by private land owners. He evaluated a list of 15 options — some closer to Town Center, the current Park and Ride and the future light rail station, and some further — which were discussed at the City Council’s planning session on Jan. 23.

After going through the list, the Council decided to prioritize the other planning projects, attempting to align more with citizen sentiment but possibly pushing the parking project off Sound Transit’s timeline.

Two of the 15 were the MICEC options — a structured lot and a surface lot — that were initially proposed by Sound Transit.

The MICEC surface lot is one of the cheaper options. It would cost $1 million, yield 203 stalls and be available in one year. But councilmembers promised that studies of that site would be stopped. City Manager Noel Treat said it was included in the report “for comparison purposes.”

“We are not actively considering MICEC as an option and have discontinued our discussions with Sound Transit about the site,” Treat said.

Pariser evaluated the other sites based on location (in distance and walking time), quantity (in area and number of stalls), costs, timing and availability. The two most plausible sites appear to be Freshy’s and the King Property, where the Hines mixed-use development is planned.

Most sites were ruled out. Restriping the lot by Mercer Isle Condo would yield zero new stalls. The old Rehabilitation Center is “cost prohibitive” as it is a planned site for 48 townhomes and three single-family residences. A Dollar Development Co. property, formerly a Travelodge Motel, is unavailable as it may be redeveloped into a five-story boutique hotel with more than 100 rooms.

Pariser also looked at sites currently occupied by businesses, including Albertson’s, Bank of America and AutoSpa, which don’t have much incentive to sell to the city.

Another option is to expand the current garage by Chase Bank, but temporary parking would have to be provided during construction.

Other ideas include asking WSDOT about using the Sunset Sculpture Park, I-90 boat launch and Overlook Park, but community reaction to “paving parks for parking lots” is expected to be similar to the MICEC site, and the boat launch is more than two miles from Town Center.

The South Luther Burbank lot was also ruled out on basis of distance, though councilmember Mike Cero was pushing for that option. Three stories of parking on that site would yield 228 new stalls. The city would potentially provide a shuttle bus service to the Park and Ride.

One of the more attractive options, the Freshy’s site, is well-situated, but expensive. It would cost $2.4 million to buy the land and $5.1 million to develop. A four-story structure would yield 172 stalls. It is about a half-mile walk from the current Park and Ride, but there are concerns about traffic concurrency and contamination.

Hines approached the city with an offer to provide one floor of commuter parking, which would yield 240 stalls, in exchange for an additional floor of residential units, but public opposition to the proposed height increase is anticipated.

An open house regarding commuter parking is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 29 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the MICEC. The comprehensive plan and Town Center visioning may also be discussed.