At its Sept. 21 regular meeting, the Mercer Island City Council passed three ordinances on an interim emergency basis to make the city’s zoning code compliant with newly-adopted state laws related to housing. The planning commission and city council, with input from residents, will review and study the best options for permanent changes, according to the city.

Interim Ordinance No. 21C-19 updates the city code in defining a family as a single housekeeping unit without limiting the number of unrelated people who can cohabitate.

Interim Ordinance No. 21C-22 amends the city code to be consistent with the new law by also increasing the number of adults served from six to eight.

Mercer Island’s city code already complies with the new state law’s requirement for cities to make provisions to permit emergency housing, transitional housing, emergency shelters, and permanent supportive housing in certain areas. Interim Ordinance No. 21C-23 amends the two definitions in the city code — “social service transitional housing” and “special needs group housing” — to stress that its existing provisions apply to the type of facilities protected by the new law.

* According to the city, King County Wastewater Treatment is upgrading sewer capacity and installing a new sewer pipe that runs across Mercer Island, underneath Lake Washington and over to the Sweyolocken Pump Station near Mercer Slough. The project also includes upgrades to the North Mercer Pump Station and the City’s Lift Station 11.