City officials will make the decision tonight whether to rezone a 64-acre golf course.
Neighbors of the Four Winds Golf Course, 5800 Park Lake Road, have been concerned the owner will develop the property.
But officials say it won’t happen.
“We have opportunities to address the concerns of the neighbors,” Mayor Pro Tem Sam Singh said. “I am not as concerned of looking at the what-if scenario.”
The golf course was annexed to East Lansing in 2001 by Meridian Township.
Neighbors have asked the city not to rezone the property, fearful the owners will sell the property for commercial development or high-rise apartment complexes.
If the property is rezoned, the owners could develop almost any kind of housing, said Bob Owen, the city’s community development administrator.
“The owner-applicant has been saying he has been trying to get it rezoned so he can sell it,” Owen said.
No plan for development has been brought to city officials.
“It may happen in two weeks after we rezone it, it may not happen until two years after we rezone it,” Owen said.
Deciding on the zoning is not as important at the site’s plan review, City Manager Ted Staton said.
The rezoned property would allow for development of any kind of family homes, apartments or a small business office complex.
Once a development plan has been settled, city officials have the final say in what is constructed.
“It is a fairly flexible zoning, what he has requested allows mixed usage,” Staton said.
Councilmember Beverly Baten hasn’t foreseen any problems with rezoning the property, she said.
Though some city council members feel there is no repercussion from the rezoning, residents are fearful of lowered property values.
There are plenty of people who are against it, said Gary Conklin, president of the Wood Creek Neighborhood Association.
“We didn’t pay extra for this property with a golf course view to have it turned into apartments,” Conklin said.
Any new developments by the owners will put stress on the ecosystem and the sewage drains, he said.
Conklin, along with other residents, plans on attending the meeting to voice their opinions.
“Hopefully, East Lansing (city council) will turn it down,” he said.
