Commission weighs fee-in-lieu, transfers outside DDA to meet downtown 'diverse housing' requirement

The East Lansing Planning Commission continued discussion July 22 of potential changes to the city's downtown "diverse housing" requirement (Section 50'94 of the zoning ordinance), considering a fee-in-lieu option, allowing transfer of per-unit credits from locations outside the downtown DDA, and other incentives aimed at increasing the feasibility of multifamily development.

Principal Planner Landon Bartley summarized the existing requirement: multifamily projects in the downtown DDA must provide at least 25% of units as "diverse housing" (owner-occupied, senior 55+ or affordable for low- to moderate-income households, or other case-by-case types). A transfer mechanism currently allows projects that exceed the 25% threshold to transfer excess unit credits, one-for-one, to other projects. Bartley said city staff and council have received multiple developer inquiries and that City Manager Bowman's letter asked the commission for guidance on whether to permit fee-in-lieu…