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City says it will remove 'junkyard' from property in Detroit

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Published  July 11, 2023 6:04pm EDT
Detroit
FOX 2 Detroit

'Junkyard' ordered for clean-up by city of Detroit

Blight overfilling on a property on Faust Avenue in Detroit that some residents have labeled a junkyard will be cleaned up by the city. A public health declaration was ordered over the garbage filling up the yard.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - ATVs, off-road vehicles, dollies with tires on them, and old toy homes were just some of the debris that littered a property on Faust Avenue in Detroit.

The blight, described as an eyesore by neighbors fed up with the debris, has now prompted a public health declaration from the city. With little evidence of a clean-up on the way, Detroit's corporate counsel says the city will now move in.

During FOX 2's most recent visit to the property, a man wearing a Detroit Lions jersey said he didn't expect to have the area cleaned up.

"No, cause you guys won’t get the f**** out of here so I can do my job," he said when asked why.

Martha Thomas, a neighbor who has been looking at the eyesore for months likened the parcel of land to a junkyard. In response to complaints from her and other neighbors, the city said it had issued over $11,000 in fines to the owner of the property.

It also warned that the tenant would have the weekend to clean up the refuse. If that didn't happen, the city would seek a court order allowing them to remove it themselves. 

MORE: 'Appalling' front yard of Detroit home racks up $11K in fines, leaving neighbors livid

That was on Friday.

"Why you let someone in the neighborhood just fill it up like this and don’t do anything about it?" asked Thomas. "It’s been so long. I could understand if it had been a few months but this has been going on over a year now."

This week, the city announced it would issue a declaration of a Public Health Emergency on the property, allowing it to move in.

"The owner, it was determined on Monday unfortunately lives in Florida. We’ve been attempting to be in touch with that person," said Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett. "We’ve made the decision that based on the continuing deterioration, the presence of vermin on the front lawn, and the continuing public health emergency that we’re going to enter the property and remove the garbage that’s there in the morning at or around 9-9:30 a.m."