Summary of Informational Meeting
Monday, May 21, 2007

Summary notes compiled by John Goddeeris and Mike Vasievich

Representatives of Meijer and East Lansing planning officials hosted an open information meeting on Monday evening, May 21 at the Michigan High School Athletic Association offices to present a proposal to develop a gasoline station and convenience store at the corner of Lake Lansing Road and Marfitt. About 25 neighborhood residents attended the meeting. Also present were Jim van Ravensway and Darcy Schmitt from the EL Planning & Community Development Staff and Kevin Beard, a Pinecrest resident and member of the EL City Council. Mike Kinstle from Meijer's Real Estate division and two representatives of the architectural firm presented initial site plans and outside views of their proposed facility, answered questions, and listened to concerns from meeting participants. Gas stations are not allowed on this property under the current zoning ordinance, so this plan, if approved by the city, requires at least a change in the ordinance.

The meeting included a lot of good, civil discussion. Meijer’s plan is innovative and in a number of ways responsive to neighborhood concerns. The proposal is for a combined gas station and convenience store with some seating for customers. Meeting participants viewed drawings of the building exterior but not the interior. Electronic copies of the initial site plan and building drawings are not available, but have been requested. The architects propose an innovative LEED certified building. The LEED Green Building Rating System is the national benchmark for high performance green buildings (see: http://www.usgbc.org/). According to the Meijer representative, this facility would be the first of it’s kind for Meijer and considerably different from gasoline stations at other Meijer stores. Nearly all of the trees currently at this corner would remain. The gas pumps would be placed diagonally near the back of the site, seemingly not very visible from Lake Lansing or Marfitt. The Meijer representative talked about using state-of-the-art double-wall monitored storage tanks to assure environmental safety and a new vapor recovery technology that would greatly reduce the smell of gas emanating from the station.

According to the architects, the building would include considerable glass area away from the pump operations, and both indoor and outdoor seating for refreshments, such as ice cream. The gas station would sell E85, diesel, and gasoline. The store would sell typical goods found in convenience stores, and also some limited food service, such as ice cream and bakery goods for consumption on-site.

Meeting attendees, raised a number of concerns. These included: additional light coming from the building and signs; the potential for increased traffic on Lake Lansing and Marfitt (which may especially be a problem for seniors living across Marfitt who often walk to the Meijer store); the potential for more debris and for undesirable odors. Residents also expressed concerns about the possibility of selling alcoholic beverages at the convenience store. According to the Meijer representative, beer, wine, and liquor will NOT be sold from the store. Concerns were expressed regarding congested and confusing traffic patterns near the proposed site in the Meijer parking lot due to proximity to the pharmacy window and garden center bulk goods. Questions were raised about how much an additional gas station and convenience store is needed in this area, and about how pedestrian and bike friendly it can really be given the difficulties of crossing Lake Lansing Road. Residents from the Pinecrest Condominiums on the south side of Lake Lansing and from the Abbott Parkside area expressed specific concerns about impacts to their homes. And, potential increases in cross-traffic on Abbey Road connecting Marfitt with Coolidge was cited.

The proposal, which we hope will be further revised in light of resident concerns, is expected to be discussed at a public hearing with the Planning Commission later in June. The Planning Commission will not make a recommendation to City Council that night, but might at its next meeting two weeks later. The Pinecrest Neighborhood Association will be meeting prior to the public hearing, 7 pm on Monday, June 11 at Pinecrest School.

The letter from Darcy Schmitt of the planning department announcing the meeting discusses other aspects of the proposal and is available for download from: http://elansing.net/pinecrest/downloads/Meijer_letter_051707.PDF

For additional information about the proposal, you may contact Darcy Schmitt at 517-319-6941 or John Goddeeris, Pinecrest Neighborhood President at 332-6489 or by email: goddeeri@msu.edu <mailto:goddeeri@msu.edu>.