DEARBORN — This week’s jam-packed city council meeting started with the final reading and approval of the long-delayed garage zoning ordinance. But before the city council approved the amendment in a 6-0 vote, some locals raised objections.
Better known as “the garage ordinance,” the modified law now restricts residents from using their garages as “habitual space or for commercial purposes.”
According to the city, the new ordinance will prevent residents from living, cooking and sleeping in their garages, maintaining that such activity could be considered a safety hazard. The new law will also serve to limit residents from parking their vehicles in neighborhood streets. It emphasizes that garages and driveways must now have enough room to park two vehicles.
‘Sliding glass door’ issue
The modified ordinance also states that all garages must have an overhead retractable door for proper storage of vehicles. This was an issue for one local resident who took to the podium to tell the council that he installed a sliding glass door in his garage and is still able to park four vehicles on his driveway.
“We know in this country that everyone is under the law… but I’m not using my garage as a house or as a living space. I don’t think I deserve to remove this glass door,” Moheed Nabolsi sated. “My door has not caused any hazards, danger or disrespect for the neighbors. That’s my situation.”
According to Nabolsi, he went to the city twice to seek a permit when he wanted to install a sliding glass door three years ago, but he was told that he didn’t need one.
However, since then, the city’s legal department has done extensive research on sliding glass doors and it has come to find that most of them are not compliant with Michigan’s building codes. There are, however, some sliding glass doors available on the market that would be suitable under those codes, according to the city.
The council explained to Nabolsi that he should take steps to ensure that his sliding glass door is permitted under the state’s codes. If an inspector finds that is not the case, then he will need to remove it.
Councilman Thomas Tafelski also weighed in stating that a sliding glass door could negatively impact children and neighbors.
“What about those people that don’t want those sliding glass doors? Part of people’s rights are to keep the aesthetics and property values of the neighborhoods. That’s the beautiful thing about the United States. What you value is different from what somebody else values, but we all have to have uniformity,” said Tafelski.
Councilman Mike Sareini expressed concerns to the mayor regarding the timeline residents will have to remove their sliding glass doors once the ordinance was passed.
According to the mayor, there are currently 12 homes that were issued citations by the city. City inspectors must reevaluate those garages to determine whether they are up to code under state and city laws. The mayor says the city will issue notices explaining the new ordinance to residents before it is enforced, in order to give them enough time to make adjustments. Dates have not yet been set, but the city plans to hold a meeting to establish a timeline soon.
Other highlights at the city council meeting included:
• A resolution to authorize the establishment of a fund of $500,000 to settle approximately 150 claims relating to heavy floods in homes during July 2013. State law allows residents to file a claim with the city within 45 days of incident. The legal department investigated over 250 claims last summer and recommended that 150 of those claims be settled.
• A resolution to acknowledge a donation of aerobics equipment valued at $839 from Councilman David Bazzy for use in the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center Aerobics Room.
• Councilman Sareini addressed Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad regarding snow emergency citations. Sareini presented a copy of a ticket cited to a resident parked near Hemlock Park dated and timed the morning after a snow emergency was lifted. However, Mayor O’Reilly weighed in stating that the resident might have received the ticket because the city’s plow truck drivers could have reported him to the police department the night before.
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