At the Dec. 3 City Council meeting, council voted to approve a seasonal sauna park that should operate in the empty lot next to Crunchy's from January to April, 2025. (From agenda packet)

Council Approves Seasonal Sauna Park, Hears Update on Non-Motorized Transportation Plan

Council approved a seasonal sauna park to be staged in the vacant lot next to Crunchy’s, at the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Delta Street, at its Tuesday, Dec. 3 meeting. 

Representatives from Timber Sauna Company were not at the meeting, but previously said the plan is to operate the park from January to late April 2025. The short run time of the park will be a trial for the business, as owners will need to come back to council for approval if they wish to operate after the end of April. 

The park will include two saunas, a check-in yurt, two cold plunges, a restroom trailer and a storage shed. The roughly 2,700 square-foot park will be circled by a four-foot tall cedar fence with an additional two feet of lattice on top. The site will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. 

A rendering of the seasonal sauna park from Timber Sauna Company that City Council approved at the Dec. 3 meeting. (From agenda packet)

Previously, the Planning Commission and Downtown Development Authority recommended approving the proposal.

The project was narrowly approved in a 3-2 vote. Councilmembers Dana Watson and Mark Meadows and Mayor Pro Tem Kerry Ebersole Singh voted in favor. Mayor George Brookover and Councilmember Erik Altmann voted against. 

Watson said she is excited about the new attraction downtown. 

“I love the idea of this,” she said. “I love the benefits of hot and cold plunges and experiences. I’m excited and I will sign up and I will bring people.”

Meadows said a reason he favored the proposal is because of its short run time. 

“This is a completely pilot project,” he said. “Even though they’ve done this in other locations, I think their feeling is it isn’t clear whether this would be popular in the City of East Lansing, and so they wouldn’t want to put down roots when they’re just going to move it someplace else anyway.”

Altmann and Brookover voiced a few reasons for their dissenting votes. 

Altmann did not like that one of the saunas is wood burning. He asked East Lansing Principal Planner Landon Bartley about emissions from the sauna. Bartley said the business owner said it would be similar to a wood burning fireplace. 

“Burning wood in a dense, urban environment doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Altmann said. “I understand it’s cozy and it’s appealing and so forth, but it creates emissions that affect other people in the immediate environment. Wood smoke is a pollutant.”

Initially, Altmann proposed adding a condition to approval that wood could not be burnt on the site. After the amendment was rejected, he voted against the project. 

Brookover gave three reasons for voting against the proposal: He does not believe the location is appropriate for the sauna park, concerns about traffic and parking impacts, and his belief that the project is not consistent with the comprehensive plan. 

Council hears presentation on non-motorized transportation plan.

In 2011, city officials developed a non-motorized transportation plan to address the needs of walkers, runners, cyclists and others who want to get around without a car. 

Last year, the city decided it was in need of infrastructure updates to accommodate non-motorized transportation and hired a contractor to assist. 

At the Dec. 3 meeting, council unanimously supported the updates, which are in still in the planning stage. Support from council gives city staff and their consultant on the plan the go ahead to seek funding for components of the plan, and coordinate with partners. 

A chart showing the progress the city has made on its non-motorized transportation plan. (From meeting agenda)

The city’s consultant on the plan, MKSK, had representative Ann Marie Kirby present to council at the meeting. 

Kirby explained that the plan was developed using input from city officials and residents, and two open houses were held to talk to members of the public. Other entities were consulted as well, including the Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing, Michigan State University, bike advocates and the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA).

A main goal of the plan is to provide more opportunities for cyclists to travel within the city. 

“East Lansing already has a fairly well connected network [of bike paths] but the goal of this plan is to make sure it was more complete,” Kirby said. “While there are bike lanes, there’s multi-use paths throughout the city, they’re not always well connected.”

The plan includes adding bike lanes, multi-use paths and more. 

A map showing the updates that council recommended for the non-motorized transportation plan at the Dec. 3 City Council meeting. (From meeting agenda)

Meadows recommended the consultants explore ways to connect the north end of Saginaw Street to Hagadorn Road. Kirby said there was “a bit of a gap” in the area and they could look into adding the area to the map. 

Singh asked about safer pedestrian crossings on Harrison Road near Glencairn Elementary School, after speakers complained about the area at a past council meeting. 

East Lansing Senior Project Engineer Stephen Clayton explained that signage, a new crosswalk and a speed radar were added. Additionally, there are more improvements for the area through the Safe Routes to School program on the way.