Metro

Catch 22

MSU fraternity may be out in the cold.

Alan Hltsky
Associate Editor

T

he Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter at
Michigan State University is
bursting at the seams and was
looking forward to moving into a new
home. A vacant, refurbished fraternity
house on Grand River Avenue in East
Lansing was expected to accommodate 35
of AEPi's 60 brothers this fall.
Instead, the young Jewish men and
their parents are lobbying East Lansing
city officials to allow the move into the
incomplete home as school is about to
open.
A delegation of fraternity members and
their families will attend the East Lansing
Housing Commission meeting tonight,
hoping to get a temporary occupancy
permit. But city officials are doubtful that
major hurdle can be passed — and there
are others.
The house at 1148 E. Grand River, off
MSU's central campus, has been vacant
for two years. Owned by the Beta Tau
Alumni Corporation, it was previously
leased to Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
AEPi entered into a two-year lease
agreement last January and expected to
move into the 14,000-square-foot build-
ing Aug. 1 and begin paying $10,500 per
month rent. But the building is not ready
and also faces a major zoning issue. City
employees say AEPi is unlikely to sway
city officials on either issue.
Scott Gordon, 21, of West Bloomfield
is AEPi chapter president. He said the
chapter's lease on its former home at 437
Abbot ended Aug. 1 and several members
are living in a hotel until the housing
situation clears up. MSU classes resume
Monday, Aug. 25.
The fraternity brothers have a contin-
gency plan: There is a vacant, smaller
home across the street from 1148. "If we
have to use that temporarily, it's available
Gordon said.
East Lansing city employees told the
Jewish News last week that 1148 E. Grand
River had been abandoned and was in
horrible shape. Darcy Schmitt, the city's
planning and zoning administrator, said it
had been red-tagged as no longer inhabit-
able, was officially declared abandoned,
and therefore lost its zoning variance.
Reverting to zoning for East Lansing's

A22

August 21 • 2008

JN

AEPi's dream house in East Lansing

East Village project, where the house is
located, requires that 50 percent of the
building's first floor be retail space.
Schmitt said East Lansing's zoning
board of appeals is "very unlikely" to
approve a variance and their decision
cannot be appealed to city council. The
zoning board is next scheduled to meet
Sept. 2.
Annette Irwin is the city's operations
administrator for code enforcement and
neighborhood conservation. She has a
lengthy file of correspondence with the
Beta Tau alumni about what needed to be
done in the building and city deadlines.
Irwin said there has been "a lot of rip-
ping out and painting" at the building, but
city permits for electrical and mechanical
work were not pulled until July 21, "and
that's pretty late in the game."
She added that the contractors have not
finished. Last week, there was no equip-
ment in the kitchen, no fire alarm system
and no requests to city hall to inspect
completed work.

"We really wanted this to work out:'
Irwin said. "We don't want a vacant build-
ing. But even if AEPi got into that house,
they would face challenges. The owners
aren't sure of who would take care of
what."
Marie McKenna, assistant to the East
Lansing city manager, said the Beta Tau
owners are fighting each other and have a
lawsuit pending in court.
McKenna said, "This is not the city
against the boys. We are liable — we have
to protect the safety of the people living
in that structure
She added that AEPi was warned about
the problems and the legal issues. "They
entered into a lease agreement with a red-
tagged structure. There is an emotional
attachment there!'
McKenna said the house across the
street can adequately handle 35 residents.
"We wouldn't allow them to stuff another
house she said, but 1148 is the kind of
space they really wanted.
The AEPi members were led to believe

that everything would be completed by
tonight's meeting. Ron Siegel of West
Bloomfield is an attorney and father of
AEPi member Reid Siegel, 19, who will be
an MSU sophomore this fall. Ron Siegel
said last week that all the health and
safety issues were expected to be resolved
and inspected by Aug. 21.
Siegel and his wife, Caryn, have joined
with other AEPi parents "to show the
city that these are mature young men!'
The parents, he said, are willing to make
periodic inspections at the house to make
sure it is properly maintained by the fra-
ternity.
AEPi's Gordon is still hopeful East
Lansing's housing commission and the
zoning board of appeals will change their
minds. "Everyone we've spoken to at
the city has been helpful and nice. They
genuinely want to get us into the build-
ing," he said. "The problem is between
Beta Tau and the city, and we're caught in
the middle." ❑