Fraternity to fight approved apartments

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Members of an MSU fraternity said they are on the offensive after the East Lansing Planning Commission approved a request Wednesday by an in-state developer to convert Lambda Chi Alpha’s 83-year-old house into an apartment complex.

In a 5-1 vote, the planning commission OK’d a site plan request by Troy-based developer Dale Inman to both renovate Lambda Chi Alpha’s house, 128 Collingwood Drive, and add 1,980 square feet onto the house’s rear.
The request now must be approved by the East Lansing City Council.

Members of MSU’s chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity said after the decision they plan to continue fighting the proposal and plan to make their case to the council.

Dan Shupe, Lambda Chi Alpha’s MSU chapter president, said he was disappointed by the commission’s decision.

“We’re going to continue to try to reach out to anyone in the community to speak before (city officials),” Shupe said.

“I haven’t looked into whether we have a place to speak at the council meeting, but if we can, we will.”

At the meeting, fraternity members made their case against the house’s sale alongside members of the Lambda Chi Alpha local housing corporation, which sold the house to the national fraternity in 1993.

Eric Novak, director of the local housing authority, said the national fraternity sold the house to a nonprofit called Lambda Chi Alpha Properties in 2003.

Novak said although Lambda Chi Alpha Properties and Inman already have signed a purchase agreement, the local housing authority is consulting its lawyers to see if it can stop the conversion.

Novak said the corporation is looking into whether the national fraternity breached its contract by not providing its intent to sell the house in writing. He also said the proposed modifications to the house violate city code.

“We will speak with our legal counsel and see what our best course of action is,” Novak said.

Although all but one of the planning commission’s members voted to approve the site plan request, the lack of available alternative housing for fraternity members weighed on the commissioners.

The lone dissenter, commissioner Lynsey Clayton, said she did not approve the request for that reason.

Clayton also said the commission needed to be wary of the alleged city code violations.

“There’s no way I can vote to support this,” Clayton said.

“The amount (Lambda Chi Alpha) gives back is astronomical. I don’t feel comfortable displacing these students.”

The remaining commissioners agreed they were not the appropriate governing body to approve or deny such a request based on the arguments presented.

Commissioner Emily Fleury said although she sympathizes with the fraternity members’ situation, the commission’s job was to consider whether Inman met all necessary requirements before requesting approval.

“At this time, I do feel I have enough information to vote in support of this site plan application,” Fleury said.

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