With less than two months until the summer solstice and a slew of downtown fairs and festivals in the works, the East Lansing City Council has begun gearing up for warmer weather.
City staff and local business owners are seeking approvals for summertime requests from increased outdoor restaurant seating to outdoor concert events at tonight's council meeting, to be held at 7:30 p.m. in City Hall, 101 Linden St.
Heather Iskra, a manager at Cosi, 301 E. Grand River Ave., said she looks forward to serving customers both inside and outside. Cosi is one of three downtown restaurants applying for right-of-way licenses, which will allow them to seat customers outside.
"People like to sit out there and watch other people walk by," Iskra said. "It brings a lot more customers in."
She said the restaurant usually has four or five tables outside from the beginning of May through September to serve customers.
The council also will be deciding whether to approve a contract to begin a traffic study on the Abbott-Chandler Road corridor.
As more development moves out to the Northern Tier, city officials want to determine whether the corridor can handle the increased traffic sure to come with it.
"We know the roadway is badly in need of repair," Deputy City Manager Jean Golden said. "We know that there have been serious accidents out there."
In October 2003, MSU student Clare McCormick was killed after being struck by a vehicle on Chandler Road.
Golden said after the council approves a contract to begin the study and allocates money for it, the council must wait for Bath Township officials do the same.
The council also might award India Palace, 340 Albert Ave., the last remaining state-issued liquor license Wednesday.
The action was deferred from last week's work session by council members because Mayor Pro Tem Sam Singh was not present.
The Michigan Liquor Control Commission has allotted 31 liquor licenses to East Lansing based on the city's population census.
Golden said the city might be required to hand the license over as part of a business deal inked years before.
The license was promised to the developers of the City Center, where India Palace is located, as part of their deal to build the multi-use complex, she said.
Mayor Mark Meadows has been a consistent opponent of additional liquor licenses in the city, and he has expressed similar discomfort over this business deal that will create more places to get liquor in the downtown area.
"(The deal) does work this way, although I don't agree with this," Meadows said.
