City Council held a public hearing on a proposal to allow FieldHouse to expand to the suite that used to hold Blue Owl Coffee, and add a pizza restaurant to another vacant suite. (From Nov. 21 DDA meeting agenda)

Council Considers New Pizza Restaurant Downtown, Saves BWL Lawsuit Talk for Closed-Session

The East Lansing City Council gathered for a regular meeting Tuesday, Feb. 4 on the heels of a ruling against the city in a class action lawsuit over a Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL) franchise fee that collected money for the city. 

The court ruled the city issued an illegal “disguised tax” without the required vote of the public, meaning the city will likely need to return millions of dollars to East Lansing BWL customers. At the Feb. 4 meeting, council did not discuss the suit publicly, instead talking about it during closed-session. 

Councilmember Erik Altmann did not directly mention the suit during his communications portion of the meeting, but did talk about taxation and the city’s financial challenges. 

“It’s easy to come to the impression that we’re a relatively affluent community,” Altmann said. “But we are not an affluent government… We don’t have a lot of money to throw around.”

Councilmember Erik Altmann at the Jan. 7 City Council meeting. (Brian Wells for ELi)

He said that 25% of the city’s land mass not being taxable is the “bane of college towns” and state restrictions on raising money hurt East Lansing financially. 

“If somebody thinks their taxes are high, or somebody thinks we can forgo revenue for some reason, I invite them to come in and point to the budget, which is public, and tell us what they would like to cut,” Altmann said.

The city has not announced a settlement with BWL customers. After a 2022 ruling in favor of plaintiff James Heos, his attorneys issued a press release saying the city must pay back $6.6 million. Nearly three years have passed since the initial ruling, as an appeals court ruled in favor of the city, and then the Michigan Supreme Court announced its ruling in favor of Heos this week. With the time that has passed since the initial ruling, the amount owed figures to have grown. The city generated about $1.4 million from the fee annually. 

Altmann and Councilmember Mark Meadows were both on City Council in 2017, when council unanimously voted to add the franchise fee. 

Public hearing for new pizza shop, FieldHouse expansion held. 

Council heard, but did not take action, on a special use request from St. Anne LLC to expand FieldHouse sports bar, and allow a new pizza restaurant called Side Piece to be built in an empty adjacent suite.

The FieldHouse expansion would include Suite B, which used to host Blue Owl Coffee. Suite C, which would be converted to the Side Piece pizza restaurant, is on the main floor of the building, north of Suite B. 

A rendering for the proposal. ‘Tenant A’ is FieldHouse, ‘Tenant B’ is the proposed special event expansion to FieldHouse. ‘Tenant C’ is the proposed new pizza restaurant. (From meeting agenda)

Side Piece would not sell alcohol, and plans to serve people of all ages. Councilmember Dana Watson commented that the proposal fills a need, as her 18-year-old daughter is a Michigan State University student, and students under 21 need places to spend time downtown. 

Meadows pointed out that there is not a condition in the proposal that alcohol will not be sold or consumed in the pizza restaurant, and said he would need that distinction to be made clear in order to vote in favor of the request. 

A representative for St. Anne LLC said the FieldHouse expansion would be used “almost exclusively” for private events. He said FieldHouse hopes to host special events for Michigan State University and state officials, as examples of how the space will be used. 

Business owner Jason Bemford said the expansion will accommodate a “cleaner dining space,” as FieldHouse is also looking to revamp its menu. 

Council members expressed concern about the lack of a condition on the application that would require the new space to be used for special events, worrying it could be used for overflow space on busy nights. 

“The reality is, with the application you’ve made to us, you can use this room for anything you want to?” Mayor George Brookover asked, to which Bemford responded affirmatively. 

Members of council expressed hesitancy to simply allow an expansion to the sports bar, with concerns about police being frequently called to businesses that serve alcohol. Altmann referenced a chart included in a later agenda item report that showed how many police calls for service East Lansing restaurants and bars drew in 2024. FieldHouse was tied for third, with 40 calls. 

Part of a chart showing police calls for service from East Lansing bars and restaurants. The data was collected Thursday, Friday and Saturdays from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a..m. in 2024. (From agenda packet)

The proposal is scheduled to return to council for a vote at its next regular meeting on Feb. 18. Previously, the proposal was recommended by both the Planning Commission and Downtown Development Authority. 

Meadows gives update on Folk Fest revival efforts, floats return of another East Lansing event. 

For months, the city has been kicking around the idea of reviving the Folk Festival, which was held in the city from 2002 to 2017. Meadows said the committee that was formed to explore bringing the festival back is meeting regularly and making progress. 

Meadows said a subcommittee will soon present on a “Flavor” Folk Festival for 2025. 

“We’re not going to have a full fledged Folk Fest in 2025,” Meadows said. “But in August we should have some presentations downtown that should be very attractive to let you know what’s on the way the following year.”

Meadows also shared that the Downtown Management Board discussed bringing back the Gus Macker basketball tournament at its meeting earlier in the day. 

The tournament “was highly popular when it was here, and it is very popular in other communities,” Meadows said.