With the city of East Lansing extending its Northern Tier borders to accommodate apartments and commerce, nearby residents of the affected area see the development as a mixed blessing.
The East Lansing territory north of Saginaw Highway - mostly between Abbott and Coolidge Roads - is the focus of a stream of development. The land has been annexed or shared from Lansing, DeWitt, Bath and Meridian townships in deals with East Lansing since 1982.
But in the face of retailers and apartments springing up at a seemingly limitless pace, nearby residents of the annexed acres are raising concern over safety.
Jim Collinson is a Lansing resident who lives within walking distance from the Lansing Township’s new Eastwood Towne Center, near Lake Lansing Road and U.S. 127. Collinson said construction has made navigating his subdivision a headache.
“Right now, we have a problem with the (Kerry) street closure,” Collinson said of the entrance to his neighborhood. Kerry Street is closed at Lake Lansing Road while construction is finalized at Eastwood Towne Center.
“Who’s at fault? That’s hard to say,” Collinson said. “But until everyone gets used to the situation, it’ll be a change.”
Not all residents near Northern Tier development view the retail buildup negatively. Lansing resident Larry Cole said development brings a mix of good and bad.
“I like it,” Cole said. “Especially the restaurants. I’m not really anti-development, it’s just that in my experience, I’ve never seen a mall developed where you can only get in from two sides.”
But residents East Lansing are downright frustrated.
One longtime East Lansing resident who did not want to be identified said his city has “lent a deaf ear” to the complaints of those affected by rezoning. Land near his home by Coleman and Chandler roads has been rezoned into retail property from residential.
“We’ve gone to meetings and voiced our opinion, but it hasn’t done any good,” he said.
The man also said the Northern Tier developments has made his once-quiet neighborhood a zone for speeders and excess traffic.
“We’ve lived here for 34 years,” he said. “We wish there never was a road put through.”
Jim van Ravensway, East Lansing’s director of planning and community development, said charges of plotting commercial property next to residential areas are misleading.
“Generally, what’s going to happen is the bulk of the land near U.S. 127 is designated for office use, and the balance of the land west of Chandler Road is a mixture of residential uses,” he said.
“What we hope to do is provide one, maybe two, retail locations which would service surrounding communities,” van Ravensway said. “There will be certain small pockets (of retailers), but as a rule, the thing you’ll see is residential development.”
