Property Research and Historic Zoning Codes and Maps

Aerial view of Mercer Island

Property Resources

Online Map Portal – Search historic information submitted with applications to the City’s Development Services Group for specific parcels, such as building permits, sewer as-builts, and geotechnical reports. Check out our GIS Records Search Guide for help finding files online. Other GIS information available includes recent and historic aerial photos, Capital Improvement Projects (such as roads), trails, crime and fire information, and much more!

MyBuildingPermit.com – Check the permit status of building and land use permits (or apply for a new one). 

King County Recorders Office – Search for recorded plats, surveys, deeds, and other documents.

King County Historic Zoning information – Prior to becoming a City, property was under the zoning authority of the county.

King County Department of Assessments – View values and sales history for all property in King County.

Oblique Aerial Photos – In addition to the aerial photos from the city, the Washington State Department of Ecology (D.O.E) has high resolution oblique aerial photos of the properties at and near the Mercer Island shoreline, which can be accessed from the D.O.E. Coastal Atlas.

Washington State Archives – Certain documents that the City or County have chosen not to retain may be retained by the State. The State Archives maintains a list of documents retained, including tax assessment rolls which includes the record of tax assessments, photographs of the buildings, description of construction, date of construction, small sketch of the exterior plan of buildings (including dimensions), segregation dates, numbers for land parcels, some ownership information, and some excise numbers. Occasionally, (for post-1937 construction) building permit numbers are included. The Puget Sound Regional Branch is in Bellevue, and can be reached at 425-564-3940.

Use of Historic Zoning Codes and Maps Below

Below is a list of zoning codes available, which are adopted by City Council via ordinances. The zoning codes are helpful in determining the applicable zoning regulations in place for a certain time period. 

‘City of Mercer Island’ and ‘Town of Mercer Island’

When examining previous zoning regulations, it is important to note that the City of Mercer Island incorporated on July 5, 1960, while the Town of Mercer Island (consisting mainly of the current Town Center) on August 9, 1960. The Town of Mercer Island merged into the City of Mercer Island on May 19, 1970. The fact is important, as there was a different jurisdiction governing the Town Center area prior to the merging of the two jurisdictions.  Many of the records for the Town of Mercer Island were not retained. Below is the most relevant information related to zoning that is available.

Links to Historic Zoning Codes and Maps

The below table includes hyperlinks to snapshots of zoning codes and significant ordinances that were effective at different points in time. *Note that the documents are scanned and formatted (OCR) to allow text searching in Adobe Acrobat Reader, PDF X-Change Viewer, or similar .pdf compatible software.

 
Document Adoption # Adopted Dated and Link Document Type Description
  Current Code Code and Maps Current Zoning Code (available through Code Publishing) - Title 19 of the Mercer Island City Code
  02/01/2010 Code and Maps Zoning as amended through Ord. 10C-01 adopted on 02/01/10
Ord. 99C-13 11/15/1999 Code and Maps Major Zoning Code overhaul. Includes a zoning map for the City of Mercer Island. 
Ord. 95C-125 12/04/1995 Code and Maps Adopted "Development and Design Requirements" for the Town Center. A major overhaul of the Town Center regulations, including some of the first architectural design requirements.
  04/01/1990 Map Adopted zoning map of 1990, which was used for subsequent zoning maps.
  12/16/1987 Code and Maps Amends Ord. A-37 through A-63 on 12/16/87
  07/14/1975 Code and Map As amended through Ord. 385 on 7/14/1975. Includes a zoning map for the City of Mercer Island and the Town of Mercer Island (Town Center)
  05/14/1974 Code Design Guidelines of the Mercer Island Design Commission, adopted as Appendix C to the Development (Zoning) code.
  11/10/1970 Code and Map As amended through Ord. 236 on 11/10/1969. Includes a zoning map for the City of Mercer Island.
  08/16/1965 Code and Map Town of Mercer Island - zoning code as amended through Ord. 138 on 6/16/1965.  The Town of Mercer Island was surrounded by the City of Mercer Island, until it was annexed into the City of Mercer Island.  The Town is roughly the area occupied by the ‘Town Center’ (TC) zoning.  A zoning map for the Town is included.
  04/26/1965 Code and map City of Mercer Island zoning code as amended through Ord. 123 adopted on April 26, 1965.  A zoning map for the City of Mercer Island is included.
Ord. 59 04/09/1962 Code Platting and Subdivision Regulations (Note: Difficult to read)
Ord. 15 09/26/1960 Code Detailed zoning Code for the City of Mercer Island. This version shows the original ordinance, with notes regarding some amendments.
Ord. 05 07/18/1960 Code Original Zoning Code for the City of Mercer Island, approving use of King County Districting Resolution No. 18801 with all amendments, including Resolutions Nos. 20216 and 21284, together with maps showing zoning related the City of Mercer Island, platting and subdivision (King County Platting Resolution No. 11048, August 1948)
King County Res. 18801 08/12/1958 Code Prior to incorporation as a city and town in 1960, the island was governed by King County. The King County Districting Resolution No. 18801 provided for certain zoning code. Please visit the King County’s web site for Historic Zoning Records for more information.
King County Res. 12122 08/28/1950 Map Prior to incorporation as a city, the island was zoned by King County.  This map amended the previous King County zoning map for the island.  Please visit the King County’s web site for Historic Zoning Records for more information. 
King County Res. 6548 07/06/1937 Map Prior to incorporation as a city, the island was zoned by King County.  This map is adopted via Resolution No. 6548 (Auditor Filing number 1407556). Please visit the King County’s web site for Historic Zoning Records for more information.
 
 
*Previously adopted ordinances can be found here.