East Lansing City Council Candidates Share Views on Developments, Ordinances Impacting City Neighborhoods

This year, six candidates are competing for two seats on the East Lansing City Council. To get to know candidates better, ELi asked candidates to respond to three different questions in 200 words or less.

The first question we asked candidates addresses city neighborhoods and reads as follows:

“With East Lansing being a college town, some residents have asked about your stance on policies that impact neighborhoods. Do you support maintaining or making adjustments to any policies that have notable influence over neighborhoods, like the city’s rental restriction districts? Do you have ideas to influence developments that may impact people living in East Lansing neighborhoods, like the MSU Gateway project?”

This is how candidates responded:

Chuck Grigsby

“East Lansing thrives when we balance neighborhood stability with thoughtful growth. I support keeping the Residential Rental Restriction Overlay and related zoning, guided by clear criteria, measurable outcomes, and regular check ins. These tools should be resident driven, show strong neighborhood support, and be calibrated block by block. I also support a citywide scan of zoning to update what is needed for neighborhood and residential viability.

“Near campus, I favor well designed infill as a policy approach. Proposals should include on site affordable units or a fee in lieu paid into a transparent local housing fund. Projects must fit the block, improve alley and parking circulation, and create clear community benefits such as safer streetscapes and space for small businesses. This balanced approach protects long time neighborhoods, gives students quality options, and ties private development to public good. It offers predictability and accountability while helping East Lansing grow in a way that reflects our values and supports residents.”

Steve Whelan

“My family has been in our home for the past 29 years. We live two blocks from campus. We love engaging with the University. Our neighborhood has stayed an owner-occupied community. I support the continued overlays protecting the character of our community.

“However, there are some isolated concerns when these boundaries were originally developed. There are concerns where a student rental is isolated in a community or a home without a rental license was left behind in a student community. With community input, there could be some type of avenue to correct these isolated situations.

“The MSU Gateway project is a bold and innovative project in a university and private collaboration. I am concerned how this could affect our Flower Pot Neighborhood. There could be unintended consequences of parking and increased traffic through an already congested infrastructure.”

Adam DeLay

“I am supportive of keeping our overlay districts in place. I also am supportive of the efforts being made by community members to improve traffic safety in our neighborhoods. Residents have been asking council for years for improvements to the traffic conditions in neighborhoods around the city, and have sent the city petitions with detailed requests of what they want to see happen. Instead of listening to residents, the city either ignores them, hires expensive consultants to “research” the issue, or tells them the things they want, such as stop signs, won’t work. It is time to listen to our residents and tackle this issue head on. This also includes addressing the issue of excessive noise from vehicles during the late hours of the night.

“Regarding the MSU Gateway Project, this is an example of the communication issues we’ve seen between the city and university. The project has the potential to be an exciting investment in MSU and our community, however residents have legitimate concerns about how this project will impact neighborhoods around Harrison and Trowbridge in terms of traffic, etc. If elected I would work to have a dialog with MSU on this project.”

Kath Edsall

“As a flowerpot resident for 30 years, I support the appropriate use of overlays to maintain a mix of homeownership and rentals that meets the needs of the neighborhood. I personally love living with students, families with and without children and retirees. The mix of youth and lived experience creates an intellectually stimulating and supportive community. I do hear the concerns of neighborhoods that do not border campus to limit rentals out of fear they will not be maintained and thus decrease property values but would love to find a way to increase opportunities for families who cannot afford to buy a home in the traditional way to move into houses in East Lansing. As a school board member, I know the importance families with children are to maintaining our neighborhood schools and I know the desire of many for increased diversity. All these needs and desires require a well thought out plan with input from different stakeholders. The MSU Gateway project may eventually be a part of a plan to increase housing as market rate housing is included but not necessarily guaranteed, but I think the city needs to focus on internal routes to develop more housing.”

Liam Richichi

“Our city’s overlay districts have been instrumental in helping to stabilize neighborhoods and, for example, bring in working families with young children. Just like any effective policy, they must be adaptable to changes nationally or in the community and to what residents want. Since their inception in 2004, there have been modifications to them over time. With the ever-rapid increase in the cost of living, building duplexes and triplexes, for example, could help to make the idea of home ownership a reality for many more in our community who cannot afford a single-family home.

“Looking at the MSU Gateway project, we need to ensure that residents nearby are being heard. After talking with many folks from the Flowerpot neighborhood, I have heard that, unfortunately, many of them feel like they are being talked at, not listened to. We need to make sure that local infrastructure can support the project and that traffic is being properly maintained, and not putting further strain on Flowerpot, which already experiences an immense amount of cut-through traffic. While we should surely look at ways to better our community by creating new, inviting spaces for folks, incorporating the voices of those impacted by the change in the process is crucial.”

Joshua Ramirez-Roberts

“I fully support the City’s overlay districts. Recent census data shows that 60% of East Lansing housing is renter-occupied and so the overlay districts are a vital part of ensuring that owner occupied housing can survive in East Lansing. But as MSU sharply increases enrollment it’s clear that our neighborhoods are still feeling pressure from the growth of rental units. 

“The burden of housing MSU students should not fall on the city alone and this is why we need to be working as a community, and as a council, to push MSU to build more housing for students on campus. MSU’s student population has increased by 30% since the last time they built a new dorm and its lack of new housing for students has put incredible stress on our neighborhoods. An hour away, U of M and Ann Arbor worked collaboratively to create a plan to house students that goes all the way out to 2050. MSU recently released its own “Vision 2050” plan, but without consulting the city or proposing any solid housing solutions. The community deserves better than this and I promise to bring MSU to the table on these issues.”