A new bar on the first floor of The Residences, 211 Ann St., clarifying city ordinance to ensure cab drivers are “of good moral character,” and restrictions to a pet day care were discussed at the East Lansing City Council’s regular Tuesday work session at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road.
A proposal for East Lansing’s HopCat, 300 Grove St., was unanimously approved by the Planning Commission at the Feb. 27 meeting and is set for a public hearing before the council April 2.
Council must vote to approve the business before it can open in the city.
Mark Sellers, owner of HopCat and MSU alumnus, said East Lansing was like home to him. He said there is a void in the area for a restaurant like HopCat.
“When I found out about the development (a developer of The Residences) David (Krause) had and the location and (that) the lease hadn’t been secured by somebody, I just couldn’t pass it up,” he said.
The council also discussed an ordinance to amend the city code to clarify and define the “good moral character” clause for people applying to become taxi and cab drivers in the city.
With the proposed changes, the code states an applicant must be a “citizen of the United States, or any noncitizen permitted to work in the United States under the federal laws, who is a resident of the state and of the age of 18 years or more, and of good moral character.”
City Clerk Marie McKenna said the change will help inform applicants whether they fit the criteria of good moral character to avoid paying a $80 nonrefundable fee only to be denied.
“We frequently have taxicab drivers ask us what would disqualify (them),” she said. “This will actually enable us to hand them something.”
Another ordinance discussed by council would change the number of pets a day care would be able to take from six to 12. The original ordinance, which restricted pets to a total of six, passed unanimously at the Jan. 15 meeting.
The ordinance was in response to a doggy day care owned by Judy Schwary’s day care, Just Like Home, LLC, 6347 Gossard Ave., which was being operated in a residential area.
Schwary spoke in hopes that council would consider raising the amount of pets she could house to 12, as she said with a six dog maximum, “I cannot simply come close to making business.”
Psychology junior Jessica Wegner said she supported, along with many other residents in attendance, that Schwary be allowed to have up to 12 dogs on site.
She said when she got her dog, Olive, she was a handful. She was looking into daycares when she met Schwary at a dog park and learned she was able to afford her day care.
“I am so so grateful to have found Judy,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do without her.”
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