DEARBORN — At a special meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, January 15, former American Arab Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Nasser Beydoun engaged in a heated debate with Mayor Jack O’Reilly over the reacquisitionof a business property on the east side of the city that was previously owned by his brother-in-law Sam Hamade.

Hamade had been running Domani International, a warehouse located at the corner of a dead end residential street at 7041 Orchard Ave, until he fell four years behind on his property taxes in 2012. The Wayne County Treasurer’s Office foreclosed on the property and placed it up for auction. The City of Dearborn bought it last year for $63,000.

At the special meeting held last week, Beydoun asked the city to be courteous enough to sell the property back to Hamade, who wanted to resume his warehouse business. Beydoun told the city that in 2012, Hamade was in the process of paying his property taxes but then had to leave the country on short notice because of a family death in Lebanon.

But after O’Reilly expressed interest in tearing down the property and rezoning it so that houses could potentially be built on the land, the tone of the meeting changed. Beydoun, who was upset by O’Reilly’s comments, told him to focus his efforts on re-shaping downtown Dearborn. He claimed that business owners are being driven away because of difficult policies with the city, including paid parking and unbearable zoning policies.

Beydoun and O’Reilly also debated over the city’s involvement in reshaping the business district in east Dearborn along Warren Ave. Beydoun claims that it if it wasn’t for  the Arab Chamber, the county would have never assisted in reshaping Warren Ave. O’Reilly rebutted with a statement claiming it was the city who approached the county first.

This week, Beydoun told The Arab American News that the mayor should sell the property back to his brother-in-law because there is no longer any debt on it. He says it would be an odd area to develop housing, because the property is located right next to a railroad. 

“What we are saying now is that this property was paid off and there is no longer any debt on it. For the city to just come in and take it from a Dearborn resident is wrong,” Beydoun says.

The business property located at 7041 Orchard Ave. is near residential homes.

During the meeting last week, some had felt that the argument turned into an “Arab thing,” but Beydoun says that he doesn’t feel that the city is targeting Arab Americans. He says that his argument was that the city is inconveniencing many residents by buying out properties in an attempt to redevelop them without a solid plan.

“I said that the Arab community in east Dearborn didn’t need the city’s help to redevelop the area. We’ve done that on our own for the last 30 years as a community and they have never assisted. They always focused their redevelopment efforts on Michigan Ave, never in our community,” Beydoun adds. “I basically told the mayor to fix the parking issues in west Dearborn that is driving businesses away. That’s where they need to be focused if they want to redevelop.”

Meanwhile Chaker Aoun, a former board member of the Arab Chamber, tells The Arab American News that he disagrees with Beydoun’s stance, claiming that the city did everything by the book when it purchased Hamade’s previous property.

“In my opinion, the accusations made toward the city of Dearborn and its mayor are baseless. Saying that they are anti-Arab or anti-business because of a personal dispute is just not right,” Aoun stated. “The dispute over a property where the previous owner had failed to pay his due taxes within the legal time frame led the county to foreclose and sell to the City of Dearborn. None of these accusations should be taking place.” 

In an effort to clear some misconceptions, Mayor O’Reilly has since spoken to The Arab American News to discuss the city’s stance on redeveloping businesses and neighborhoods, as well as addressing some of the arguments made by Beydoun. 

O’Reilly says the foreclosure of Hamade’s warehouse was out of the city’s hands, as that was a decision that was made by the county. He says the city made the decision to purchase the property because there is potential to redevelop it into residential land. 

“We took the opportunity because it was an eyesore. The property was not maintained and the neighbors had to live with blight and trash. It sounded like something we could convert because it’s in a residential area,” O’Reilly said. 

O’Reilly adds that in recent years the city has been trying to separate industrial zones from residential neighborhoods. He says he knows firsthand how difficult it can be living in a neighborhood located in the middle of an industrial zone, since he grew up in an east Dearborn neighborhood right next to a factory.

“For some time now in East Dearborn, we have been rezoning industrial property. We want those properties to be away from residential homes. They are usually not well maintained and we want to look into demolishing the properties and rezoning them into residential because it will help strengthen our neighborhoods,” O’Reilly adds.

O’Reilly says that Hamade’s former warehouse could be considered a safety hazard for the residents living nearby, because an inspection revealed that flammable material had been stored inside the property, causing it to be in violation of city codes because a sprinkler system was not installed.  

The mayor also addressed Beydoun’s argument regarding businesses in west Dearborn being negatively impacted by paid parking, after he said that three businesses were closing up shop because of that reason. The three businesses, Double Olive Cocktail Lounge, Kiernan’s Steak House and Silky’s Martinis & Music, all located within a one block radius, announced they were closing last week.  

O’Reilly, however, argues that the business owners made the decision to close for personal reasons, and it is not something the city has control over. He points out that one of the businesses provides its own parking and another one of the business’ owners is even on the Dearborn Parking Authority.

“The owners were interested in having someone else buy the properties. It has nothing to do with paid parking. This is a case of when the facts don’t fit the position, you make wild accusations,” O’Reilly stated.  

Aoun also adds that he believes residents need to give more credit to the City of Dearborn for their attempts to reach out to the Arab American community. 

“Mayor O’Reilly, city council, and city employees have always had a respectable relationship with the Arab-American community. We should give them more credit for what they do,” Aoun says. “They are always working hard to make sure that Dearborn is an attractive and safe place for all, including businesses and residents. Let’s not forget we are one community and that we all have the same mission and vision for a better Dearborn.”

The city council has tabled the item regarding Hamade’s previous property in order to obtain more property value information from the City Assessor.