Public hearings on East Lansing’s budget, a proposed apartment complex and the taxi driver “good moral character” definition might be hot topics for discussion at Tuesday night’s city council meeting at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall.
The council also will decide whether or not to renew liquor licenses for bars and restaurants in the city. The fate of some restaurants’ license renewals are up in the air after the city found several establishments have not paid personal property taxes or filed necessary documents with the city.
Check The State News on Tuesday night for full coverage of the public hearings and results from the vote on liquor license renewals.
Renewals of bars and restaurants’ liquor licenses
The council has been recommended by city staff to approve all the bars and restaurants’ liquor licenses, subject to them paying personal property taxes or filing 50/50 reports with the city.
Under the 50/50 guidelines, the city requires all establishments with liquor licenses to report sales to ensure that not more than half of profits are coming from alcohol.
“I fully anticipate everyone will get on the payment plan and everyone will get into compliance,” City Clerk Marie McKenna said.
As of 5 p.m. Monday, The Landshark and What Up Dawg? had not yet paid the taxes, according to city documents. The Landshark owes $1,070.94 and What Up Dawg? owes $273.43 to the city.
If the establishments have not paid any taxes or filed reports, “they would not have (the license) at all until they take care of those conditions,” Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplett said.
Proposed apartment complex on BP gas station
The proposed project, located at 504 Michigan Ave., is four stories tall and would feature 21 four-bedroom apartments, with the first floor used for both commercial space and parking, with 34 on-site parking spaces.
As with many of the redevelopment projects in the city, the issue of parking came up during council’s discussion at last week’s work session. The project is seeking nine parking spaces located in Valley Court Park and a 25 percent reduction for its 57-space parking requirement as it is a mixed-use building.
City Manager George Lahanas said the small parking might not be a big issue with the developers, Wolf River Development Company, as the project they are developing neighboring the gas station has had no problems leasing to people.
“It sounds like with their first building, they had no trouble renting the building because of how close they are to the university,” he said.
Hearing on East Lansing’s budget
There also will be an allotted time for people to come and speak before council on the budget talks the city currently is undergoing.
The current draft of the budget proposes slight cuts to the general fund, which includes public safety services, and the city street funds. It’s part of more than a decade of financial strains that have restricted the budget.
Information on the city’s preliminary 2014 fiscal year budget is available at cityofeastlansing.com.
Taxi drivers and “good moral character”
The council has discussed the addition to the city code to define the “good moral character” requirement for people applying to be taxi drivers in the city at several meetings already this year.
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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.
Check out previous State News coverage of the “good moral character” addition, including comments from city officials and a taxi business owner.
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