A battle to construct an apartment complex along the 700 block of Burcham Drive continued last Tuesday when the East Lansing City Council created an ordinance that could leave the land habitable to only families.

"They are once again trying to hamstring the project by making it less attractive," said Allen Russell, a representative of DTN Management Co., the plan's developer.

The complex would have housed 90 occupants and 75 vehicles and was turned down by the council in March. According to DTN, the company's representatives were not given a fair hearing by East Lansing officials, so they filed a lawsuit against the city.

"We are entitled to a professional review of our application, not a political one," Russell said. "The city also tried to buy one of the pieces of property from under us.

"To my knowledge, the city hasn't gone around buying single-family homes on blocks."

Deputy City Manager Jean Golden said the city didn't attempt to purchase any of the Burcham properties, but they did receive an offer from one of the property owners.

"We declined to get involved in what we saw essentially as a bidding war (with DTN)," she said.

Although the city and DTN have yet to appear in court, both sides said they are gathering evidence and testimony.

"We have filed an answer contesting the complaint," City Attorney Dennis McGinty said. "It puts the issues in dispute and tells the judge we need a trial. We are just waiting for the court to issue its scheduling order."

If the zoning ordinance introduced last week is approved, DTN would not be allowed to construct an apartment complex on the site, even if it wins its case in court.

The city is trying to rezone the area for single- or double-family housing.

"They are trying to do anything they can to block the project," Russell said.

DTN's lawyer said rezoning the area wasn't fair, but he declined to comment further.

"I would echo that DTN disagrees with the city's proposal to rezone the properties," said Kevin Roragen of Loomis Law Firm.

The council can rezone any piece of property that it deems necessary, even if there is a case pending in court, McGinty said.

"The City Council can amend a zoning ordinance at any time," he said. "That is within its legislative authority. If the property is rezoned, the court can presumably order the sight plan to not be approved."

Although other apartments surround the area where DTN would like to construct its complex, city officials said the plan doesn't fit the location, Planning and Zoning Administrator Bob Owen said.

"The council doesn't think it's properly zoned for multi-family uses," he said.

City officials cited several reasons for rejecting the plan, among them was the possibility that renters, such as students, could move into the area. They said bringing more renters into the area wasn't good for those living in the surrounding neighborhoods.

"The feeling is this area was inappropriately zoned," Golden said. "They are correcting a mistake that has been in place for a long time."

Kris Turner can be reached at turne112@msu.edu.