East Village
East Village-area property owners upset about a recent Lansing State Journal letter to the editor by an East Lansing official had their say Tuesday at the East Lansing City Council meeting.
In the letter, East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton responded to allegations that the city intends to use blight designations and eminent domain to seize land from property owners.
The property owners in attendance Tuesday said they felt they were being portrayed as trying to extort money from the government. Staton responded by saying his comments were directed to the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy, an organization that had published a separate letter in various newspapers last month.
The land in question is located at the proposed site of the city’s East Village development project, which would replace several student housing units and businesses, including Cedar Village apartments and McDonald’s.
San Diego-based Pierce Education Properties currently is 12 months into a 30-month deadline to complete the land acquisition of the properties located in the planned East Village area but hasn’t acquired any properties.
East Lansing should carefully limit its land planning techniques. The harm which can be done by the threat of utilizing the Takings Clause is limited to true Public Use takings and not pipedreams of planners and politicians.
