DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – When the letter came announcing the City of Dearborn Heights would be conducting a spring sweep to combat blight from creeping into the city, Barb and Joe Renye were so annoyed they decided to make their feelings felt—in color.
“This is nothing but a money maker,” Barb Renye told Local 4.
The couple sees this as a way for the city to write tickets to fill up its coffers instead of addressing the real blight in the city and they have an example across the street, an abandoned home with grass that’s knee high and a garage that’s falling down.
That eyesore has been that way for months and the Renyes are sick of seeing nothing done about it.
So, Barb Renye went to Lowe’s and bought bright yellow, red and green paint and spent two days painting the fence on their property as a colorful protest.
Dearborn Heights Mayor Dan Paletko tells Local 4 he’s not trying to cause heartburn for anybody, just make sure the basics like grass get cut.
As far as the eyesore home on the street, the mayor said he’s not familiar with the back story there but will look into it first thing Thursday. He adds that the city has to go to court with lousy landlords all the time and it can take years of legal wrangling to get a house torn down or cleaned up.
As far as Barb and Joe go, they said their bright fence is staying and they’re gunning for a beautification award from the city.
