Mayor asks Lansing City Council to put sale of City Market land to voters

Kara Berg , Sarah Lehr | Lansing State Journal

LANSING — Lansing Mayor Andy Schor is looking to City Council to see if the land City Market is on can be sold.

City Council would need to vote by Aug. 13 to send the proposal to the Nov. 6 ballot.

Under Lansing's city charter, the city needs voter approval before selling parkland.

Schor said the waterfront property is key to revitalizing Lansing's riverfront.

More:

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“We must reactivate the City Market property and are placing all options on the table. In order to do that, we need to include the option for a private entity to buy the market," the mayor said in a statement.

City Council voted in May to slash the city's annual subsidy to the market from $80,000 to $40,000. Because of the funding cut, the market is slated to close around Labor Day.

The Lansing Entertainment Public Facilities Authority manages the market on the city's behalf.

Schor said in the release that, if the property sits vacant following the market's closure, it could potentially add "unnecessary blight to Lansing's riverfront."

Loretta Stanaway, a community activist, opposes selling the City Market land.

"One of the reasons why I'm against things like this is that it perverts the public's intentions when it comes to parks," Stanaway said. "It's very clear that the public wanted parkland protected."

Council introduced a proposal last month to repeal part of an ordinance that designated City Market's current site in Riverfront Park along the Grand River as its permanent location. A public hearing on that ordinance, which could allow the city to move market operations out of the building, is set for 7 p.m. Monday.

During a June City Council meeting, Schor said there were no concrete plans for the market's long-term future. The mayor emphasized that any decisions would follow extensive public feedback.

"If there's no real plan, then I don't see why there has to be a hurry to sell the land," Stanaway said, referring to the mayor's request to bring the issue to voters as soon as November.

The city announced new short-term plans for the City Market earlier this summer. In an attempt to draw more people to the area on weekdays, LEPFA is hosting a "Grand Experience" series through August, involving food trucks and music.

The current City Market building opened in 2010 after an older structure was demolished to make room for Pat Gillespie's Marketplace apartments.

The building, which sits along the eastern bank of the Grand River between East Ottawa and East Shiawassee streets, has struggled to attract visitors and keep market vendors in recent years.

Officials once touted the City Market as an affordable place to buy fresh produce, but its farm vendors left two years ago. The market stopped accepting government food assistance as payment after the U.S. Department of Agriculture revoked its designation as a farmer's market in 2016.

At-large City Council Member Patricia Spitzley supports selling both the market building and the land it occupies.

"I know there's some concern about selling the market, but it's not really a park anymore," Spitzley said. "It's a building with a bar."

Spitzley was referring to the Waterfront Bar and Grill, a market tenant that paid about $52,800 in annual rent. LEPFA decided earlier this year not to renew the grill's lease.

Spitzley and other city council members supported that decision, arguing it was inappropriate for the city to "subsidize" a business that sells alcohol.

The ballot measure proposed by the mayor would authorize the city to sell both the market building and the land it occupies. Another option would be for the city to sell the building but lease the land on which it sits.

Spitzley, however, is inclined to sell the land because that would allow the city to collect property taxes from the parcel.

City voters have been favorable to prior requests to sell parkland, even when there is no specific offer on the table. Among past proposals, they supported the sale of land from the former Red Cedar and Waverly golf courses and the former Miller Road Community Center, all with strong majorities in favor.

Contact Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95. Contact Sarah Lehr at (517) 377-1056 or slehr@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahGLehr.