Zoning plan seeks to ban heavy industry in Core City

This story was republished from BridgeDetroit.

Fed up with dust and disturbances from an industrial lot next to their homes, a Core City advocacy group is pitching a plan to prevent future industrial activity in close proximity to residents.

The rezoning proposal comes in response to ongoing issues and dust from 4445 Lawton, an industrial site owned by Can-Am International Trade Crossing, LLC, that has repeatedly violated city blight codes.

Residents gathered in front of the operation Wednesday for a press conference to share frustrations and celebrate an upcoming hearing where the City Planning Commission will discuss the community’s proposal to rezone 35 parcels along I-96, W. Warren, Buchanan, and Grand River. The plan seeks to change M4 Intensive Industrial zoning to a use that would restrict how intensive the land use could be, such as M2 (Restricted Industrial), M1 (Limited Industrial), and SD2 (Special Development District). 

“The health and well-being of this community is being negatively impacted through the fugitive dust,” Laprisha Daniels, executive director of the nonprofit Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, said at the press conference. “This cannot continue to be in this community or other communities across the city.” 

In 2022, site owner Murray Wikol applied for a permit to crush concrete at the site adjacent to residents. The application was denied, but the site was still used illegally to store materials. In April 2023, the city filed a lawsuit against Wikol for creating a public nuisance. Since 2022, Wikol has received 127 blight tickets and more than $144,000 in fines, of which $139,390 is still owed, online city blight records show. 

State Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor, said it’s clear that Wikol is a bad-faith actor. 

“It’s profoundly disturbing that despite repeated infractions, Can-Am International has not remediated their illegal storage and activity,” Geiss said in a press release. “His complete disregard for the fugitive dust he’s spreading throughout the neighborhood is despicable. These particles could be toxic to residents and exceptionally hazardous for those with asthma or other respiratory illnesses.” 

Wikol told BridgeDetroit Wednesday that all of the materials are the result of illegal dumping and that he was cleaning up the site under the direction of the city. 

“We were told by the city of Detroit to clean up the illegal dumping that occurred. We’re a victim of people dumping construction and demolition debris that’s occurred over a period of months and years,” said Wikol, adding that he’s removed more than a million pounds of illegal dumping. 

“I’ve not put one pebble, one tire, one brick on that site. It’s been illegally dumped,” he said. “As a property owner, I have not put any material on that site.” 

Wikol said it was an unfair paradox that he was being fined so much for others’ illegal dumping when fines for illegal dumping are $200 for the first offense and $500 for the second. 

The real solution is fining people for illegal dumping, he said. 

“It’s less expensive for them to illegally dump than it is for them to take it to a landfill,” he said referring to contractors. 

The City Planning Commission on April 4 is set to hear the neighborhood’s proposal to downzone M4 industrial lots in Core City to SD2, which encourages a mix of pedestrian and transit-oriented uses compatible with a neighborhood center.  

“This means bad actors like Wikol won’t be able to propose any more horrible and toxic operations like his to harm our community,” argued Vanessa Butterworth-Serna, a resident and co-founder of Core City Strong, an advocacy group formed to fight the concrete crushing permit.

Wikol said he was unaware of the downzoning proposal but is not attached to concrete crushing on Lawton or even owning the site. 

“We’re open to anything to create jobs and economic development there at that site or elsewhere in the city of Detroit,” he said. “We’ve cleaned this site up more than anyone has in the past. If someone else wants to do something there we’d love to have them.”

That includes selling the land, leasing it or even a land trade for another parcel in the city in an area that is “welcoming,” Wikol added.

Zone defense

Butterworth-Serna said the community has been meeting with the City Planning Commission since October to identify the most appropriate zoning for the neighborhood that balances the needs of residents and businesses. 

A change in the zoning designation to SD2 would be ideal, Butterworth-Serna said. 

“So people can live here, work here, play here and have fun with their neighbors.” 

Zoning reclassification can be made on parcels for several reasons: to meet public need, promote general welfare and to fit with the Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance, according to the city’s website. Anyone can submit a rezoning application or a map amendment. 

The proposed zoning map amendment is being requested to conform with the City’s Master Plan of Policies and to protect the health, welfare and safety of the surrounding community by reducing intensity of uses that are currently permitted, the hearing notice states. 

After the City Planning Commission makes a recommendation the draft would go to City Council for review, a public hearing and a vote. 

Like Core City, the Schoolcraft Southfield neighborhood has been fighting against a concrete crusher next to residents. The site was issued nearly 300 blight tickets over two years and, in 2022, the city sought to revoke the company’s land use permit. The Wayne County Circuit Court will hold a hearing on the case on Thursday, Mar. 21 at 11 a.m. 
The City Planning Commission hearing regarding the proposal to rezone parts of Core City will be held Thursday, April 4 at 5:15 p.m. in the Committee of the Whole Room on the 13th Floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, and online.