It originally was proposed to feature 21 four-bedroom apartments.

Mike Dowdle. a managing partner with Wolf River Development Company, said the company only will complete the two-bedroom plan if ordinance 1287 passes. The ordinance currently is being discussed by the East Lansing Planning Commission.

One of the objectives of the ordinance is to help alleviate parking downtown by allowing businesses to provide off-site parking. The issue of parking downtown has been a topic of interest at recent council meetings, one Councilmember Vic Loomis felt “really concerned” about.

“I’m kind of torn here in a decision,” he said. “Were this applicant not to have a track record with the city, I would not vote in the affirmative on this project because of my concerns with the parking. … This particular applicant does have a track record with us. They do what they say they will do.”

The applicants currently have an another apartment building under construction next to the BP and remodeled the former Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house.

Council also decided to refer a possible addition to the city code to the East Lansing Human Relations Commission to define the “good moral character” clause for people applying to become taxi drivers in the city.

The HRC will review the ordinance to see if it possibly could violate any applicants’ civil rights, particularly involving discrimination against applicants with criminal records, and then make a recommendation to council.

The addition was proposed so hopeful applicants can see if they meet the necessary criteria of being a taxi driver in the city before paying the $80 nonrefundable fee.

“When this ordinance was originally brought before council … it was designed to address the very real need to provide a definition to an ambiguous term in the city code,” Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplett said. “Some of the objections that were raised at the two work sessions and by the Human Relations Commission were not necessarily anticipated when it was originally proposed.”

All of bars and restaurants in the city had their liquor licenses approved unanimously by council, with The Landshark and What Up Dawg? approved based on the condition they pay delinquent personal property taxes to the city.

Earlier in the day, council met in a special work session to discuss the street, utility and solid waste funds in the city for its 2014 fiscal year budget.

For the first time in several years, the major street fund for the city will be out of deficit by the end of this fiscal year, said Todd Sneathen, director of Public Works.

Another work session on will be held next Tuesday at 5 p.m. to discuss the human services, parking and capital improvements funds.