New connector road to link campus to Mission Street, city commission addresses University Park zoning
At its June 13 meeting, the Mount Pleasant City Commission approved a new street to connect Central Michigan University's campus to Mission Street — one of the city's busiest corridors.
The new connector street will be located in between Gordon Food Services and, what currently is, the Antiques Center of Mount Pleasant at 1706 and 1718 S. Mission St. respectively. It will connect East Campus Drive to Mission Street.
Mount Pleasant City Manager Nancy Ridley said adding a connector street at the location has "always been a high priority."
The street will be included in the construction of "Campus Commons," a mix of housing and retail space slated to be built where the Antiques Center and Pho Viet restaurant are currently located.
Brandon Labelle of Labelle Limited Partnership presented the building project to Mount Pleasant’s Planning Commission on Oct. 1, 2015. Commissioners unanimously granted Labelle with a special use permit after a public hearing. Part of the deal required Labelle to construct the connector street. The city's Downtown Development Authority agreed it would use tax funding to help support the construction.
"Labelle has agreed to construct the road and be reimbursed by the DDA," Ridley said. "Then both Labelle and Connacht Reality, LLC, who owns Gordon's Food (Service), will deed the road and underlying land back to the city. It will be a public road after construction."
The DDA will reimburse the city for the costs, Ridley said.
The commission also approved an agreement Monday which makes the consultation between the city and university regarding new buildings in University Park a contractual requirement, Ridley said.
University Park, the area south of Bluegrass Road near Theunissen Satidum, is primarily university land. However, the approximately 300 acres is categorized as "RCD," or Research Center Districts. This area is set aside for scientific, business, industrial research operations and related testing and production in a park-like setting.
The planning commission will hold a public hearing on June 30 to consider recommending the city commission change it to a zoning of "U" or "university zoning." The city commission will hold another public hearing before voting on it in July.
Ridley said the city's relationship with the university is positive. The agreement is being considered to "add clarity."
"There weren't really issues that arose," Ridley said. "It was more a lack of clarity about what does CMU have to approve and what does the city have to approve, what boards do I go through if I wanted to build out there. No conflicts, but just confusion by people who might want to build out there."
