East Lansing DDA Hears Proposals for Social District, to Repeal Parts of Pretextual Stop Ordinance and More

The East Lansing City Council will hear proposals later this month about how the city could implement a social district and repeal a portion of an ordinance that directs officers to not conduct traffic stops for loud exhaust.

East Lansing Police Chief Jen Brown presented some of the findings from a panel of city employees to address current issues in the downtown area to the East Lansing Downtown Development Authority, or DDA, Wednesday ahead of presenting the group’s recommendations to City Council at the Nov. 18 meeting.

“These do not necessarily reflect my personal opinions. These were recommendations from the committee as a whole, and if they made it on this list, it means that the majority of the committee members were in favor of these recommendations,” Brown said, adding that she’d like to get feedback from DDA members before presenting the findings to City Council.

Noise in the downtown is among the top issues a group of city staff identified over the course of five weekly meetings, Brown told members of the DDA.

Concerns over noise, especially car noises from loud exhaust and modified mufflers, have long been a complaint of residents who have told city officials that the deafening and persistent vehicle noises have made it impossible to sleep at night and enjoy regular activities like gardening and musical performances in the area during the day.

One recommendation city staff have come up with is to repeal part of a year-old ordinance barring law enforcement from initiating a traffic stop if the primary reason is loud exhaust. Cracked windshields and tinted windows are among the list of other offenses that officers are barred from initiating a stop solely over.

The inclusion of loud exhaust was controversial when the ordinance passed because loud cars are such a common complaint from residents. At meetings before the ordinance passed, council discussed how it is hard for ELPD to enforce noise laws on moving cars because the department does not have the technology to pick up decibel readings on moving objects.

Local governments across the country in recent years have adopted similar rules surrounding pretextual traffic stops where a driver is not pulled over for being a threat to public safety, unlike traffic stops initiated for offenses like speeding and erratic driving. Researchers and advocates have asserted that pretextual traffic stops have often been used by law enforcement to disproportionately initiate searches and arrests of motorists of color who were pulled over for things such as having an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.

Another area of concern Brown discussed with the DDA was the feasibility of a social district. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, local communities around Michigan have created social districts to promote economic development and community engagement through designating a certain geographic area where people can buy and consume alcoholic beverages from participating businesses and walk around within that area.

East Lansing briefly tested out a social district during the pandemic, but Brown and others in the city have raised concerns over individuals potentially abusing the system and purchasing drinks from nearby liquor stores and pouring them into the marked social district cups.

Social districts have become popular in Michigan, with more than 50 of the state’s 83 counties having at least one municipality that has created one, including neighboring cities Lansing and Williamston.

The DDA unanimously supported creating a social district in the Albert El Fresco area downtown in June nearby restaurants such as Hopcat, Barrio Taco and Jolly Pumpkin.

Brown said the city’s Community and Economic Development Director Heather Pope and Michigan State University are currently conducting a feasibility study on a social district in East Lansing that will provide recommendations that should conclude at the start of December. 

Still, Brown said the panel of city staff creating health and safety recommendations said another option the city should consider is implementing a pilot temporary social district program for a weekend to determine if the city can implement a social district successfully.

Brown presented more recommendations focused on what city staff identified as other top issues facing East Lansing’s downtown including crime in the area, unsafe bar lines, the unhoused population and overall cleanliness of the area.

A full list of recommendations will be made available when they are presented to City Council later this month, Brown said. She told the DDA that they include changing the city’s camping ordinance and posting signage about abandoned property to prevent unhoused individuals from losing their things.

East Lansing Police have a policy that if abandoned property has no discernable value, it can be disposed of, but if it is determined to have value, the city attempts to save items until a person can reclaim them, Brown said.

By posting signage that ensures that the city can do things like implement regular power washing, one of the recommendations towards improving overall cleanliness, Brown said it would also provide information to the public so people are not separated from their personal property.

City Council will be presented with other recommendations including increasing the number of security cameras and permanent light fixtures to address criminal activity and hear options for managing the presence of bar lines on city sidewalks near high traffic areas.