A “Concerned Citizens Initiative Petition to Protect our Parks” was submitted on Feb. 23 in response to a plan to build Mercer Island Center for the Arts (MICA) in a corner of Mercerdale Park.

The group behind the petition, Concerned Citizens for Mercer Island Parks, formed last year to protect the city’s open spaces, which they perceived as threatened. They asked the City Council to consider an advisory vote on the MICA issue, but the council recently voted 6-1 against the idea. The council also decided not to put the issue on its biennial citizen survey, which is being administered March 1-6.

The Concerned Citizens say that Mercer Island has a history of protecting its parks, with two Island-wide advisory votes shooting down proposals to build a golf course in Pioneer Park and City Hall in Mercerdale Park.

The initiative calls for all lands the city of Mercer Island holds now or in the future for park and recreation purposes, whether designated as park or open space, to be preserved for such use in the future unless certain conditions are met: the City Council holds a public hearing regarding the necessity of the transaction; the council enacts an ordinance finding that the transaction is necessary because there is no reasonable and practical alternative; and the city receives land of equivalent or better size, value, location and usefulness in the same vicinity, serving the same park purposes in exchange.

The group needs about 3,000 signatures in 90 days to put its initiative on the November ballot, but cannot start collecting signatures until the city provides an initiative number and a ballot statement, which must be provided within 10 calendar days.

Island resident Jeff Bender will run the campaign, though the petition was written by Ira Appelman, president of the Mercer Island Community Council.

The Mercer Island citizens’ initiative is based on Seattle’s park protection ordinance.

Appelman has been critical of the city’s recent actions regarding parks and open space. First, a council subcommittee proposed building a commuter parking lot on a hill in Luther Burbank Park. Then, the council sold a portion of Clarke Beach to an encroaching neighbor who didn’t know that his garden crossed over the park border.

Finally, MICA applied for an expanded footprint that extended past the former recycling center into Bicentennial Park and a part of Mercerdale’s native garden. MICA also had to alter its building plan to avoid a nearby wetland.

But the Concerned Citizens have gripes with MICA that go beyond its location, scrutinizing its financial plan and draft lease with the city. They worry that the city — and its taxpayers — will end up subsidizing or taking over the performing arts center. They say the city should also be looking at landslide risks and other issues with critical areas.

At the last council meeting on Feb. 22, the city manager was authorized to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MICA about the process going forward. MICA will have to complete a satisfactory environmental review, looking at impacts on parking, traffic and the wetland, before the council will sign or even consider the lease again.

The timeline for the review is unknown, said Kari Sand, city attorney.

The memo will give MICA and its supporters the assurance they need to continue fundraising for their $25 million capital campaign, of which they have raised $5.5 million, and provide a “roadmap” for both the city and MICA. MICA is still hoping to break ground in 2017.

The city’s timeline is undefined, while MICA and the Concerned Citizens are racing against time, and each other.

Councilmember Dan Grausz, a vocal supporter of MICA, said at the meeting that the Islanders behind the MICA plan are not asking how they can protect Mercer Island, but how they can enhance it.

He said that MICA could be a “defining change” for the community, which is the same reason he supported PEAK and turfing the ballfields.

The Concerned Citizens say that there are distinct differences between the city’s agreement with PEAK and the one proposed with MICA. PEAK provides parking, was built on land already designated for buildings, reverts to the School District after 10-50 years and is backed by a “solid, ongoing organization, King County Boys and Girls Club,” according to briefing documents provided by the Concerned Citizens to the council and the Reporter. MICA reverts to the city after 50-80 years, and the lease does not protect the city in case of default, according to the documents.

They also say that the city’s memo with MICA violates the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) because the city cannot take any action before an environmental review. But the memo does not create any “foregone conclusion” or “preclusive effect,” Sand said. The council will still have discretion on whether to sign the lease, or not, after environmental review.