Government

The process of disputing parking tickets has just become a lot easier. East Lansing’s 54B District Court has added an online platform for review of parking tickets.

Historically, an unfair parking ticket was often grudgingly paid due to the unwillingness to withstand what might be a lengthy court process. Paying the fine often seemed worth the price to avoid the hassle. On the flip side, a citizen unwilling to pay for an undeserved parking ticket might have been unable to make it to court and faced increasingly severe penalties as deadlines passed.

Since the new single-bin program started, recycling is up, but trash is not down by nearly as much. We asked DPW's Cathy DeShambo to explain this and more about the new program.

The East Lansing City Clerk’s office is currently in need of Election Inspectors to work in polling locations around East Lansing on March 8, 2016. The work is paid and helps to support local democracy.

Inspectors’ half-day shifts run from either 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. to closing (usually 9 p.m.). Full-day shifts run from 6 a.m. to closing. The City pays Election Inspectors $60 for half-day shifts and $120 for all-day shifts.

Above: One version of what the City thought the East Village could look like if redeveloped

Tomorrow, the City of East Lansing will host the first meeting of the group convened by City Council to address landlords’ concern about the City telling them they may not make improvements on certain properties. Since 2011, the City has determined that landlords cannot make certain changes to their buildings if they are “nonconforming”—that is, if the buildings don’t meet the zoning for that property.

Photo: An owner-occupied home (currently for sale) between two nonconforming rental houses in East Lansing.

Above: map showing in cross-hatch where parking may be restricted to cars with resident-only permits

Tonight, East Lansing’s City Council will consider whether to add parking restrictions in the Chesterfield Hills neighborhood. If approved, the plan would expand the area where only Chesterfield Hills residents with pre-arranged permits may park. (See full map of plan.)

East Lansing’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Project and Infrastructure subcommittee met this Tuesday to hear revised plans for White Oak Place, a project planned for the northeast corner of Grand River Avenue and Spartan Avenue. The developer presented a new Brownfield plan lowering the tax increment financing (TIF) ask from $9.5 million to about $6 million. The developer also provided a revised site plan.

Image: Rep. Lee Chatfield, left, and Mayor Mark Meadows

Representative Lee Chatfield, Chair of the Michigan House Local Government Committee, announced at yesterday’s meeting of that committee that, following a conversation with East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows, he had decided to defer action on HB 5041. If passed into law, the bill would allow East Lansing landlords to make certain kinds of improvements to nonconforming rental properties that are not allowed by current East Lansing ordinances.

Image: A clip from the auditors’ slide presentation last night