Council Approves Glencairn Overlay, Unhappy with El Fresco Shrinkage

City Council isn’t sold on the proposed Albert El Fresco area for the coming season.

At Tuesday’s (April 9) City Council meeting, a vote on whether or not to approve road closures that allow for the downtown space was deferred until next week, as council members were unhappy with the reduced size of the area. 

The proposal, which was endorsed by the Downtown Development Authority, moves the western barrier from just past the parking garage near the corner of Abbot Road and Albert Avenue east of the Grove Street and Albert Avenue intersection, near Hopcat. Community and Economic Development Specialist Matt Apostle guessed the proposed area is 35% of last year’s size. 

El Fresco’s size was reduced to allow delivery trucks to more easily reach 7-11 and adjacent businesses, and to allow Newman Lofts residents to keep the same pickup/dropoff area.

Keeping the intersection open also prevents the 7-11 parking lot from being used as a cut through area for cars traveling between Grove and Albert, which ELPD Deputy Chief Chad Pride said is a safety concern. Pride also said keeping the intersection open could make it easier for emergency vehicles to get in and out of El Fresco.  

Some members of council were unhappy with the change. 

“People like the old El Fresco and its big footprint,” Councilmember Erik Altmann said. “I think there’s value to having a big footprint, it just gives people more space to spread out.”

“I think the community has spoken, they want to see this expanded and not necessarily scaled back,” Mayor Pro Tem Kerry Ebersole Singh said. 

Mayor George Brookover asked about legal concerns with 7-11, which he said go back to 2021. City Attorney Anthony Chubb responded vaguely. 

“A lot of that predated me, so I’m not actually familiar with the initial communications,” Chubb said. “I know that there was some concern for potential litigation in that regard.”

Surveys indicate the space, which features games, picnic tables, hosts live music and more, is popular with residents. But this year’s iteration is currently scheduled to be downsized and have a shorter season, as the end date was pushed up from the end of August to Aug. 12 to make it easier for Michigan State University students to move into the area. The space is scheduled to be activated on April 29. 

There are plans to add more seating and planter boxes to the elevated plaza by the Marriott Hotel and Fountain Square downtown. Additionally, four parking spaces along the south end of the Bailey parking lot would be used to place planters and picnic tables. 

Council opted to defer a decision on the street closures to next week’s meeting, requesting that staff look into safe ways to expand the El Fresco area from the current proposal. 

Glencairn overlay expanded and approved. 

A saga that stretches all the way back to last year came to a close when council voted to approve the R-O-1 rental restriction overlay that was proposed for parts of the Glencairn neighborhood. 

The approval of the overlay essentially means no rental licenses will be issued in the overlay district – which is now even larger than was initially proposed. Residents of the district petitioned to create it largely to keep short term rentals like those found on Airbnb from existing in the area. 

The initial map covered 149 homes in the neighborhood. However, Altmann motioned to expand the area to include more homes nearby after some residents who were not part of the initial map expressed disappointment about being excluded. 

The expansion stretches to include properties north of the proposed area to Saginaw Street and east to Abbot Road. Altmann made the amendment because he said that he does not believe there are enough homes below or above Oxford Road to create their own overlay districts.

Altmann said he believes there are 48 homes south of Oxford and 49 north in the expansion area. Chubb said it was unclear if these residents could seek a separate overlay, if they aren’t included in this one. Overlay districts must include at least 50 homes, and require signatures from two-thirds of homeowners within them to start the process. 

Councilmember Mark Meadows agreed with Altmann, saying he believed the areas Altmann added should have been a part of the overlay to begin with. 

“When I look at the map that we have that includes this red area and the blue area, I’m looking at a single neighborhood,” Meadows said. “I think logically we should proceed to include that single neighborhood.”

Expanding overlay districts before they are officially activated is a power given to council. Nearby residents were given information about the overlay and notified their home may be included.

Altmann said 13 people in the expansion area have reached out to the city – 10 were in support, which is why he believes there is support for the overlay in the expansion area.

Still, Councilmember Dana Watson and Mayor George Brookover opposed the expansion. Watson took issue with council making a sweeping change for such a large section of homes without hearing from most of the impacted residents.

“It shouldn’t lie in our hands that we can expand it by as much as is being proposed when the initial overlay district, you have to have that two-thirds [of residents’] signature,” she said. 

The amendment passed 3-2, with Singh joining Altmann and Meadows in support. Council then moved on to the main motion – whether or not to approve the overlay district. 

Watson was the only member of council to oppose the overlay. She highlighted the importance of making sure renters have a place to stay. She also spoke about people who come from marginalized groups who may not be able to afford to buy a home in East Lansing. 

“Black and brown people rent at higher rates for their entire lives than our white counterparts,” Watson said. “It’s the intention and then also the impact of these type of rules that we have to think about.”

Watson also talked about how as overlay districts age, the homeowners within them change but the overlays remain. There is a similar process to having an overlay district removed as there is to having one put in place, but receiving two-thirds of resident signatures would be a challenge and would require neighbors starting another controversial process to initiate change. 

Despite disagreeing with the amendment to expand the overlay, Brookover joined the majority to vote to put the overlay in place. He said residents had followed the correct process to have the overlay created, and that the area covered meets the criteria for an overlay district. 

Before the vote, Altmann spoke about the lack of affordable housing, and how he does not believe the overlay districts are the reason the shortage exists. 

“The shortage of that [affordable rental housing] is not due to overlays,” he said. “It’s due to the market that we live in.

“We could sunset all the overlays in the city tomorrow and we wouldn’t get a whole lot more family-oriented detached rentals,” Altmann continued. “We would get a lot of student rentals and we’d get a lot of party rentals because that’s where the money is.”

Council voted 4-1 to approve the overlay district. 

Council approves ELIPOC commission appointment, despite opposition from commission. 

Michael McDaniel will join the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission (ELIPOC), after he was unanimously approved by council. 

This decision was made despite ELIPOC Chair Ernest Conerly and Vice Chair Kath Edsall opposing his appointment, according to Watson. Watson said she would vote “no” in support of Edsall and Conerly, but voted in favor of McDaniel’s appointment after council’s discussion. 

McDaniel is an attorney with a long history of working for federal and state departments. He has also worked as a professor and associate dean at the Cooley Law School campus in Lansing, according to his application. McDaniel was the only applicant for the vacant position. 

Meadows and Singh each said they know McDaniel from past experiences, and spoke favorably about him before voting in favor of his appointment. 

“[I believe] ultimately, the members of the commission, and the chair and vice chair, will find that he’s a very valuable addition to the debates and the discussion, but also in the oversight of our police agency,” Meadows said. 

Watson pointed out that ELIPOC was designed to address racial inequities in policing and the commission is losing representation from racial minorities that have historically experienced police discrimination. With McDaniel’s appointment, seven of the commission’s 11 members are white. 

“Whenever we are talking about inequities it is important that the people who have been harmed the most are at the table,” she said.