The council instead approved a plan to rezone the property from B-4 to B-5 community retail sales business district. The council referred the plan back to the East Lansing Planning Commission and deferred decision until Sept. 21.

The switch in zoning from a B-4 to a B-5 requires further setback from the road and allows for greater ground coverage of development, City Manager Ted Staton said.

The developer, Caddis Development Group LLC, specified in the amended plan it would limit property coverage to 65 percent, less than the 80 percent limit of the newly proposed zoning category. Caddis Development Group LCC also specified there would not be a restaurant in the zone and a proposed pharmacy would not have hours past midnight.

Residents were against the development for a multitude of reasons, many of which are included in the city’s master plan, such as traffic, population density and environmental issues, East Lansing resident Jay Brant said.

“When you look at the proposed rezoning and the proposed uses, it’s just self-evident the rezoning is inconsistent with the master plan,” Brant said at the meeting. “It’d be a serious detriment to our quality of life.”

Kevin McGraw, president of Caddis Development Group LLC, said he believes he can get a majority vote with the amended plan.

“I believe it’s a viable plan, especially with all the concessions,” McGraw said. “But I don’t get a vote.”

The final public hearing of the night — an application to approve a site plan for a Culver’s restaurant — was made virtually unnecessary after the council denied a proposal to split ownership of the lot of the Meijer at 1350 W. Lake Lansing Road. The lot division would have given space in the parking lot of Meijer to allow for the Culver’s, which would have been built on the property, similar to the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar, 2450 Coolidge Road.

The council voted against both agenda items, likely taking into account the negative public comment.

A petition against the development by residents of the 1300 block of Lake Lansing Road was distributed among councilmembers and several residents voiced their concerns about traffic, noise and safety.

When the Meijer site originally was approved, the sitting council worked with residents to create an acceptable plan. Since the original development, councils have been hesitant to change the area in consideration for residents.

Peter Priggooris, an East Lansing resident since 1977, was one of the residents hoping the council would continue years of consistency.

“I see everything that goes on Lake Lansing Road,” Priggooris said at the meeting. “Meijer was approved originally with (that) promise. … (Developers have) applied a lot of times and (the council) constantly turned them down for years and years.”

Councilmembers Diane Goddeeris, Kevin Beard, Roger Peters and Nathan Triplett voted against the lot division.

Triplett said he had a different reason than the other three, who wanted to follow the past councils’ suggestions.

“It’s somewhat unfortunate that many of the reasons that this use is incompatible with the surrounding neighborhoods have nothing to do with Culver’s,” he said.

“I think it would have offered another dining opportunity that is positive for the community.”

Councilmembers also voted to approve several downtown developments, including demolition and reconstruction of the stretch of buildings that house The Post, 213 Ann St., as well as 215 and 217 Ann St. A project slated for a lot adjacent to the Grove Street Garage also was approved by the council.