There might be some light at the end of the tunnel for East Lansing motorists looking for a solution to the city’s downtown parking situation.
The East Lansing Planning Commission will be reviewing a proposal Wednesday to add 45 spaces to the 76-space parking lot on the southwest corner of Albert Avenue and Bailey Street.
The proposal also calls to reconfigure the lot so vehicles would enter on the west side of Bailey Street instead of the south side of Albert Avenue.
The commission will employ a public hearing at the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. tonight in Courtroom 2 of the 54-B District Court, 101 Linden St.
The city had to sacrifice 34 public parking spots near the Albert-Bailey intersection in order to make way for the Stonehouse Village III redevelopment. This project would replace and possibly add 11 spaces to the high-volume area, said Ron Springer, community development analyst for the city.
The Stonehouse Village III project involves the construction of a five-story, mixed-use building containing 122 parking spaces and 36 residential condominiums on Bailey Street between Grand River and Albert avenues.
“There’s a need for parking at this end of town,” Springer said. “We lost 34 (spaces) available to the public, so we want to get spaces back on line as soon as we can.”
The East Lansing City Council will review the site plan during a council meeting in the coming weeks and eventually vote on the proposal.
Planning commission member Dale Springer said he’s unsure where his fellow commission members stand on the proposal because they haven’t collectively discussed it.
While he can’t speak for his peers, Dale Springer said at this point he supports the project.
“It sounds to me like it’s a go at this point, subject to whatever information should come up … at the public hearing,” he said. “The parking lot is already there, so it’s not like we’re making a major change to the city.
“I also note that the city’s proposal to change the entrance is designed to help the flow of traffic going east and west on Albert, which tends to be kind of congested at times.”
Adding parking spaces downtown would help the city’s parking situation as well as local businesses, said Tina Acevedo, service manager of Chipotle Mexican Grill, 539 E. Grand River Ave. The eatery borders the proposed parking project.
“It would help because a lot of customers complain about not having enough parking,” she said.
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