Commissioners still are working to sort out questions on key issues, including development concerns. It will be at least two weeks before any more steps can be taken toward finishing the project. At that point, if a decision has been made, the Planning Commission will be able to recommend action to City Council.

“At this point, we’ve raised all the issues,” East Lansing Community Development Analyst Tim Schmitt said. “And I feel that we’ve also solved the majority of them.”

The proposed building would be made up of eight apartments and some other non-residential space.

Planning Commissioner Don Davis raised the concern that the new building could block the view from the neighboring buildings’ windows.

“If I interpreted the diagram correctly, all of the windows on the floors of the old buildings will be obstructed by the placement of the new building,” Davis said.

According to Schmitt, the construction plans for the building have not yet reached that point in production.

“Obviously, we’re going to have to meet the standard building codes,” he said. “We won’t have any more details on that until the full construction plans are complete, though.”

There are various other ways to maneuver around the building codes, which Committee Chairperson Sheryl Soczek pointed out when she brought up the fact that previous buildings have been constructed without windows before, and it still was considered acceptable.

“There are other options under the code for situations like that,” Schmitt said. “There are hundreds of different variables that we’ll need to go through.”

More apartments in the area would mean more residents, and more residents likely could lead to more cars. Another concern raised by commissioner Paul Stokstad was whether there would be enough parking space to accommodate this new addition to the downtown area.

“Dan O’Connor, the parking administrator, said that they would be able to accommodate more parking,” Schmitt said. “There will be a bigger discussion later about parking permits for downtown, because it’s getting to be in an uncomfortable position. We’d need more detailed numbers to determine that.”

The little pieces of this project that have been going on for decades have come together for the most part, although Schmitt said he cannot be sure about when the building plans will be completely finalized.

“The applicant is the issue here,” he said. “We have ?given the green light to the project at least five times, but they just haven’t implemented anything with it yet.”