Planning commissioner was good for Mercer Island

I suspect most islanders who read the article in the Mercer Island Reporter (“Planning Commission member resigns from her post,” Feb. 10, 2021) are not aware how shocking the resignation of Lucia Pirzio-Biroli actually is.

Born on the island, educated in the public schools on the island, and a civic activist here on the island, Lucia has for decades actively promoted environmentally wise planning for the community and opposed city plans pushed by developers that many of us agreed were not positive community projects.

This was her life story since getting her degrees in environmental design in Colorado, working in restoration projects in Italy and getting her graduate degree in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. We are fortunate that she returned to continue to serve the island she loves. Projects such as pushing through the Mercer Island Farmer’s Market and so many other contributions to enrich our lives deserve a full story.

I suspect that developers are happy to see someone as knowledgeable, bold and outspoken as Pirzio-Biroli leave the Planning Commission. As a resident homeowner on the island for the last 65 years, who even as a Cub Scout camper on Mercer Island in the 1930s thought that I would someday like to live in such a beautiful natural environment surrounded by water, I am deeply disturbed that a person who has served the island like Lucia Pirzio-Biroli should be allowed to depart from the city Planning Commission.

Sydney A. Abrams,

Mercer Island