Zoning board approves Gannon Ramp replacement at LCC 

WEDNESDAY, March 4 — The Lansing Planning Board tabled its discussion last night of Lansing Community College’s special land use request for a proposed five-story parking garage on Capitol Avenue at Shiawassee Street. The board will revisit the issue next month after collecting more information about the project.  

The board, however, voted to recommend to the City Council that it approve a special land use permit to LCC to tear down the Gannon Parking Ramp on North Grand Avenue and build a new ramp there. The Council will have the final say. 

The LCC Board of Trustees has already approved $51 million in bonds for the project. LCC is going to dip into its construction fund to cover the remaining cost.  

LCC President Brent Knight told the board that LCC has considered other options. LCC owns property across the Grand River, but Knight cited safety concerns for students walking home late at night. Likewise, though LCC owns a lot north of Saginaw Street, Knight worries about thousands of students crossing the street every day. LCC’s property at Shiawassee Street and Washington Square, adjacent to the fire station, is too small, Knight said. 

Knight said the Gannon Ramp keeps him up at night. Built in 1976, the ramp is still standing more than a decade past its projected life span, he said. 

LCC Director of Facilities Tim Martz warned, “The Gannon Ramp is ready to go. We’ve put a lot of money into it. It’s lived its life.” 

The proposed new Gannon Ramp would feature some improvements, including an internal park slope floor that allows cars to recirculate around the lot. In the past, there was no way to travel up and down the ramp to look for a spot. They also plan to split the traffic coming out of the ramp by adding an entrance and exit.  

The goal is to construct the Capitol Avenue garage quickly, then demolish and rebuild Gannon, so that the school never loses a critical amount of parking spots. Both parking structures combined would add 686 parking spaces for LCC students.  

LCC officials consider parking one of students’ main concerns. Knight pointed out, “We offer free bus passes. I wish they were used more. But students choose to drive.”  

Members of the surrounding community — including a vocal contingent from Old Convent Condominium across the street from the proposed site — objected to the new Capitol Avenue structure over concerns about its height, aesthetics and the light and noise pollution it will produce. 

“It is going to impact the view,” said Lansing Zoning Administrator Susan Stachowiak. 

She added, “They’ve designed it to minimize light glare and noise from the vehicles.” 

One view it would affect is from apartments on the first five floors on the north side of the new Capitol View high rise that the Eyde Co. recently opened in the old Oliver Towers senior citizen home. 

Another is that of condominiums in Old Convent, across Symour Avenue on the west side. 

Linda Peckham, owner of Old Convent, told City Pulse. “I am very concerned about this. It’s very important to me.” Peckham pointed out that thousands of new cars could potentially pass down her street a day, creating a more dangerous environment.  

She wondered why the entrance and exit had to be on Seymour Street, not Shiawassee. 

During public comment, Peckham told the board, “This is our neighborhood. There are residences all around us.” She called for more transparency from the board and LCC. One suggestion was that LCC make more of an effort to reach out to the community and facilitate discussions about the two projects.  

As a way forward, the board has asked both for more time to deliberate the matter and for more information. Board member Josh Hovey said, “We’d like to see input from the traffic department, more information on lighting mitigation, and we’d like to know, from the city’s perspective, why the use of the North Capitol Ramp is not feasible.” 

Board member Dr. Farhan Bhatti added, “I would like input from traffic folks about why the main entrance and exit could not be on Shiawassee, instead of on Seymour.” 

The board will meet again for discussion on the first Tuesday of April.