GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. – The controversial parking lot plan was approved by the Grosse Pointe Park City Council Monday night.
When demolition crews started showing up on Wayburn Street and tearing down homes, neighbors were astonished as nobody had told them anything.
Magnify that astonishment times 10 when it was discovered that the homes in what’s referred to as the Cabbage Patch were being demolished to put in parking lots.
The homes in question are about the Kercheval Avenue business corridor, which has led neighbors in the area to feel misled, and they let the city council hear about it Monday (Oct. 17) night. They say development is not the issue.
“It’s that the development is happening without any effort to involve us, those who are most affected,” said Graig Donnelly to the city council.
The properties are owned by the S.B. Cotton and Sons LLC. The Cotton family has become prominent developers in the park. They have a new restaurant in process near the new parking lots, with more mixed-use development planned for Kercheval Avenue in the future.
The Cabbage Patch offers the members of Grosse Pointe Park more affordable housing options.
“The undeniable and overwhelming sentiment is the people do not want to see residences demolished and turned into parking lots,” said neighbor Jennifer Watson.
Developing Kercheval Avenue is in the city’s master plan; The city’s outside experts told the council that more parking would be needed, adding that the lots are consistent with the master plan. The council voted yes overwhelmingly, with only one dissenting vote, to approve the rezoning.
