Planning commission approves Town Center final plat and site plan, sends road vacation to City Council

The Lansing City Planning Commission voted 5-0 to approve case DEV2025DEV005, a final plat to reconfigure lots in the Town Center, and case DEV2025DEV006, the accompanying site plan for a multi-tenant retail development, and forwarded the roadway vacation required for the plan to the Lansing City Council for final action.

The approvals clear the way for the developer to combine two existing lots, vacate Center Drive, and create five new retail lots and a detention-tract area. Staff told the commission the plat dedicates a public-access easement to maintain entry through the property and includes a sewer easement; the final recordation and transfer of deeds will follow council action. "The approval of this site plan will be dependent on the acceptance of the roadway vacation by the Lansing City Council," city planner Josh said during his presentation.

Why it matters: the replat and site plan enable construction of several large retail pads and a small (about 8,000-square-foot) strip center that the developer says has multiple leases under negotiation. The project will change a stretch of public roadway into a private access drive, affecting access and maintenance responsibilities for neighboring businesses including Family Eye Care and the lot currently occupied by McDonald's.

Staff described the technical scope: the action vacates Center Drive, combines parcels, and establishes individual lots (identified in the staff packet as Lots 5–9) plus a tract for regional detention west of Family Eye Care. Lot 7 was identified in the staff packet as city-owned; other parcels are in private ownership and under contract for sale to the developer. The staff recommendation included a request to accept a reduction in the open-space requirement; the commission approved that reduction as part of its motion.

Jonathan Riddell, owner of Family Eye Care, told the commission that the clinic's principal concern is continuity of access and utilities during construction. "Our only concern was we're going from a public drive to a private 1. Just making sure we had some of those checks in place beforehand," Riddell said, asking for a written maintenance or access agreement before the final recordation.

Todd Menace, the project's lead for developer Driven Assets, described market interest and a target construction schedule. "We have those first 3 tenants in lease and... we're targeting construction start sometime in the fall," Menace said, adding that national retailers often require strict delivery windows. Menace and the architect described grading and retaining-wall design work the project team has used to reduce the height and cost of previously proposed walls and to preserve a 70–80-foot buffer between the development and adjacent residences.

Commissioners and staff noted outstanding technical items that must be completed before final recording and building permits: acceptance of the roadway vacation by the Lansing City Council, completion of easement documentation, submittal and review of the traffic-impact and hydrology studies, and engineering to expand the existing detention facility as required. Staff asked that the commission include two additional conditions (described in the staff presentation as items in blue) addressing construction-period access and the need to maintain access to Family Eye Care and the adjacent McDonald's property throughout construction; the commission approved the site plan with those conditions.

Formal actions recorded in the meeting included election of Jerry Geese as planning commission chair and the selection of Brian Poole as vice chair consistent with the commission’s bylaws. The planning commission's approvals for the final plat and the site plan were recorded by roll call as unanimous (5–0).

Next steps: the final plat and the related road-vacation request will be forwarded to the Lansing City Council for its approval of the roadway vacation; hard-copy plats and recorded easement documents will be completed after council action. Staff and the developer said they expect to begin construction in the fall and to deliver tenant-ready buildings by late summer 2026, subject to permit, engineering, and tenant-scheduling requirements.