Image: The leafed-out white oak tree of “White Oak Place” as seen from Spartan Avenue last fall.

Following a request by the developer Joe Goodsir, East Lansing City Council opted last night to defer decision-making on the White Oak Place project proposal until May 24. Mayor Mark Meadows said the delay will allow the City to seek its own environmental assessment of what is needed in terms of clean-up at the site, which includes a former gas station.

Along with many AP courses and other advanced programs, East Lansing High School students have the option to take higher-level classes at local colleges, such as MSU and LCC, a process known as dual enrollment.

Many advanced students take advantage of this opportunity, often upperclassmen, who have exhausted the school’s offerings in a subject area. There are opportunities for taking classes in almost any subject, but the majority of enrolled students take classes in English, World Languages, or Math, which are the tracks the most students finish before their senior year.

Above: Artist’s rendering of the proposed project as seen looking east from Spartan Avenue

If two votes go as expected, tonight East Lansing’s City Council will set a pair of public hearings for April 12 to consider a site plan and tax increment financing (TIF) plan for a major new apartment complex near Hagadorn Road. If built as planned, the project, a six-story mixed-used development to be named White Oak Place, will sit on the corner of East Grand River and Spartan Avenues, just west of Brookfield Plaza.

The Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority has granted the City of East Lansing its request for $99,000 to demolish the vacant, blighted “little bank building” at the corner of Abbot Road and Albert Street, shown above.

Above: artist's rendition of a future BRT station

In East Lansing, CATA’s planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) would reduce the number of stops along Grand River Avenue, provide raised platforms for faster and easier boarding, reduce the greenway median by one-quarter in acreage, and reduce the number of westbound car lanes downtown by one, according to the current plan. An update on the plan was presented to East Lansing’s City Council this week by City Planning staff Lori Mullins and CATA’s Assistant Executive Director Debbie Alexander.

Above: the East Lansing voting precinct map

This morning, the East Lansing City Clerk’s office provided East Lansing Info (ELi) with results of yesterday’s presidential primary elections in East Lansing. The results indicate that John Kasich easily beat his opponents on the Republican side, garnering 43% of the votes cast in the Republican race, in contrast to Donald Trump’s statewide win. In East Lansing, Trump came in second on the Republican side, with about 22% of the vote.