In something of a surprise, someone on city council is proposing and overlay district that would increase the maximum heights for buildings in the city 20 feet to a total of 160 feet.
https://eastlansing.granicus.com/Met...&meta_id=70993
There was a proposal working its way through council a month or two ago that would have upzoned the western end of downtown. I guess the city is getting tired of trying to micro-manage height and have just proposed an even 160 feet for most of the downtown area. Basically, the city has had a very strict 140-foot maximum for decades, as they wanted to preserve their "small town" feel, and getting to that 140-foot maximum was only permitted in a section of downtown and then only then a special use permit. This basically had the effect of pushing development to the sprawling Northern Tier north of town.
Finally noticing the incredible demand for downtown living, it looks like the council is slowly opening up to more density in the downtown area, and seem to have agreed that 140 feet is too limiting. I will be interested to see who proposed this and if it ends up being controversial. The 160-foot overlay is still 20 feet lower than the max of 180 feet in Ann Arbor, though.
Hybrid Mode