This section of the lot is privately owned by the Metzger and Fabian families and has been leased by the City for several years. As of late, the City signed an agreement with the owners “with the understanding that they were interested in continuing to lease the property to the City,” according to the press release.

The two families decided to invoke their 30-day termination notice, which will go into effect this Friday. While these spaces are no longer be open for public use, the 34 owned by the City will still be available. 

The move is what business owners in the 500 block consider to be the “tipping point” in a long history of development “back and forth” in the area.

For Mike Kruger, owner of the Peanut Barrel and chairperson for property/business interest on the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), it’s been a time period that has “felt like an eternity.” Kruger has been the “point-person” for the businesses within the 500 block, bringing their development concerns to the City's attention. 

“I've been in contact with everybody that I can to try to hopefully help pull their heads toward a deal,” Kruger said.

For Jon Howard, owner of the record store Flat, Black and Circular, the biggest frustration has been the lack of compromise between the city and the lot’s owners. 

“We're just watching two children fight at this point,” Howard said. 

While Howard recognizes that the business is “spoiled” due to their clientele being engaged in “short business” — often taking advantage of the alley in front of the lot to conduct record drop-offs or pick-ups — he and his employee Clint Harkness still worry. 

“At the end of the day, I want them to all get together, sit down in a room and figure it out,” Harkness said. “The quicker they figure it out, the more comfortable we'll be.”

To Harkness' understanding, the families have "gone as a far as they can," ultimately choosing to not resign their lease to "prove a point to the city."

“I understand from their perspective why they want to do it, but closing the whole thing isn't going to help anything,” Harkness said. "All you're doing is hurting the businesses and the people that want to come here.”

Kris Lachance, owner of Splash of Color Tattoo & Piercing Studio, echoed the sentiments of Howard and Harkness. Lachance describes her establishment as a “destination business” and recognizes that many of her clients are there for services that require several hours, and thus, need a longer term parking spot. 

“We don't just cater strictly to students on foot,” Lachance said. “The big worry is that people are going to be like ‘well, I can't find parking, so forget it.’ We can't afford to (take less business).”

Lachance is especially troubled about the loss of the lot during gamedays or big events because of the long-standing parking woes in East Lansing.

“We need to make it easier and more attractive to give people more reasons to come here instead of (giving them) more of a deterrent,” Lachance said. 

Going forward, Lachance hopes to see better communication between the businesses and the city. Lachance was informed about the lot’s closure through a flyer on a sandwich board on her way into work before receiving an email from the city. 

“The sooner we know what's going on, the sooner and better we can communicate with our staff members and our clients,” Lachance said. “If we can prepare for the inconvenience better ahead of time, it's going to make things flow a lot better.”

In tandem with greater communication, Kruger would like to see efforts from the City to reduce the strain of the loss, such as less expensive validations or free parking vouchers to give to customers. 

The City extended an offer to the lot’s permit holders to switch to any other parking facility downtown, such as the Division Street Garage. For temporary users, the public east section of the lot will be delineated beginning Friday.