A city proposal that would set a patron cap on downtown establishments serving alcohol past midnight and prevent any new businesses of a similar type from opening was unanimously deferred from consideration Wednesday night.
The East Lansing Planning Commission, which deferred the vote until an unspecified date, cited concerns about the enormity of change the proposal would usher. Current establishments closing and stifling new businesses from opening were among those concerns voiced, and for good reason.
Without incentivizing new businesses, the proposal would hamper a lucrative stream of revenue that has been a driving force of downtown commerce and a relevant industry to the more than 40,000 students at MSU.
A diversity of businesses is essential to a vibrant community, but catering to the city’s wants is practical.
As the Park District project enters its next phase, which involves plotting out building use, this proposal would send a negative message to businesses hoping to invest, whether or not they intend to serve alcohol past midnight.
The city should focus its efforts on incentivizing the type of business it wishes to bring in, rather than discourage what it doesn’t want.
With a proposed seating cap of 3,330 and a current patron capacity at 3,892, that difference of 562 seats could mean an establishment or more would have to leave before a similar type might apply.
“I don’t think the possibility of historical downtown restaurants closing looks good for East Lansing,” Julie Jones-Fisk, vice chair of the planning commission, said at the Wednesday meeting.
The proposal could lead to more empty storefronts unless other types of businesses plan on investing.
City officials said they worry about the safety of patrons and the concentration of bars downtown, not the number of businesses serving alcohol after midnight.
“It’s not to keep the students from drinking,” Darcy Schmitt, East Lansing’s planning and zoning administrator, said in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s to keep them safe while intoxicated.”
And for late-night bar goers, it means stagnation downtown.
Clearly, this is an attempt to distance the downtown from party culture.
City officials have been reluctant in pointing out what dangers students encounter after flowing into the concentrated areas around downtown bars. The talk is often of drunk students moving through residential neighborhoods and causing problems after the bars close.
It is a problem that the proposal will not solve, and might even contribute to, officials stated on Wednesday. It also was said at the meeting that any patron cap implemented will displace students and create an increase in residential parties.
Deferring the proposal was not the best course of action, voting it down was.
Editors’ note: This headline has been changed to accurately reflect the position of the editorial board.
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