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You are on eastlansinginfo.org, ELi's old domain, which is now an archive of news (as of early April, 2020). If you are looking for the latest news, go to eastlansinginfo.news and update your bookmarks accordingly!
A non-scientific survey of ELi readers who say they are registered voters in East Lansing suggests the East Lansing land sale proposal on the March 10 ballot has strong support.
Out of 100 responses, 74 respondents indicated they are casting or are likely to cast “yes” votes, 19 indicated voting “no,” and 7 said they were undecided. While the number of responses is small relative to the voting population, the 55-point difference between support and opposition to this ballot question appears significant.
The ballot proposal asks voters whether City Council should be authorized to sell a piece of downtown land at the northwest corner of Albert Avenue and Abbot Road to the Michigan State Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) for $810,000 for the purpose of building an office building there. (Read more about the details in our nonpartisan voter guide.)
The people on the “yes” side gave the following reasons in our survey:
Many people on the “no” side felt this is an issue of (dis)trust:
But some of the “no” votes also come from the plan for the site. Some “no” voters don’t want more high-rises, and one said that “there now seems to be [an MSUFCU branch] every 4 blocks.” (This project would have a branch on the first of eight floors.)
Parking was an issue for a number of “no” voters:
Another “no” voter and a “probably no” voter objected to the possibility, indicated by East Lansing’s Director of Planning, that there may be a tax increment financing (TIF) deal on this project.
And why are some people undecided?
On that last question of whether other options are possible on Lot 4, note that the ballot question does not require the Council to go through with the deal if a majority of voters approve. It simply authorizes Council to make this move if Council decides that is the best choice.
If Council wants to sell the land to someone else, or for some other use, or for some other amount of money, they’ll have to come back to the voters to get authorization for that.
You can see the raw responses here, learn more from ELi’s nonpartisan voter guide, and sign up for ELi’s mailers to make sure you get the latest news on this developing story. And don’t miss our nonpartisan guide to the rest of your March 10 ballot.
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