Detroit, MI Ordinance ‘Restoring Our Communities’ Aimed At Redeveloping
On October 17, mLIVE.com published an article titled ‘Restoring Our Communities’ Policy Package Aimed At Redeveloping Detroit Beyond Midtown And Downtown.
‘Restoring Our Communities’ policy package aimed at redeveloping Detroit beyond Midtown and downtown
DETROIT, MI – With 78,000 empty buildings in a 139-square-mile city, Detroit has been ragged on both physically and mentally, with some national news outlets even showing aerial video of the uniquely giant and vacant Packard Plant while equating it to the city’s blight.
But Detroit residents and members of Michigan United have released a plan that they said will help Detroiters keep their homes, while bringing redevelopment to areas beyond Midtown and downtown.
“Yes, our city’s in crisis, and our neighborhoods are hurting,” Rev. Frank Jackson, pastor at AME Zion Church in central Detroit, said Thursday at gathering to announce an initiative called Restoring Our Communities. “However, we see a bright light at the end of the tunnel. You see, we’re not the kind of people who just complain about a problem, we’re the kind of people who will work to address the problem, and that’s why we’re here today – to address the problem.”
The proposed Restoring Our Communities plan by Michigan United calls for a city ordinance that does the following things:
- Requires banks to post a $10,000 bond for each new foreclosure, allowing the city to use the money to maintain the property in case the banks neglect it.
- Creates a blight offender registry that dishes out steep fines to owners of several blighted properties.
- Establishes “good corporate citizenship standards” with which the city holds banks it does business with accountable, including encouraging the financial institutions to work with underwater homeowners.
- Creates a public trust to oversee funds collected through the blight program to see to it that the money is redeployed into neighborhood development projects.
“While the causes of blight are complex, more than 40 percent of vacant properties in Detroit are the result of mortgage foreclosures,” said Lee Gaddies, a Michigan United member and legislative director for the Bagley Community Council.
Gaddies added, “Places like downtown and Midtown have been getting a lot of attention lately, and that’s a good first step. But we need all of Detroit to be strong for our future.”
Michigan United said the policy package was crafted with input from thousands of Detroiters, and refined with the help of local and national legal experts. Some cities in California have drafted a similar ordinance.
The plan will not be pushed on City Hall for at least a few months. Gaddies said the policy package had been well-received by both mayoral candidates, though in election season he takes that with a grain of salt. The group is also waiting for the next wave of City Council candidates to come to office.
Debbi Adams, one of the Detroiters spearheading the Restoring Our Communities effort, said the group will also approach state-appointed Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. “We plan to request a meeting with him, and we hope he will be an ally,” she said.
Adams, who lives around the corner from Greater Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, where Thursday’s meeting was taking place, said she was on the verge of losing her own home a few years back, and decided to seek legal help. That’s how she got involved with Michigan United, she said.
“The banks came after me,” she said. “I decided I wanted to go after them.”
To view the online article, please click here.
About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest mortgage field services company in the U.S. Founded in 1990 by Robert Klein and based in Valley View, Ohio, the company inspects and maintains defaulted and foreclosed properties for mortgage servicers, lenders, and other financial institutions. Safeguard employs approximately 1,700 people, in addition to a network of thousands of contractors nationally. Website: www.safeguardproperties.com.
