State - Detroit Bing lays groundwork for downsizing plan Large swaths of city would be turned back into fields or farmland

By David Runk Associated Press Writer DETROIT (AP) -- Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said the city will focus on demolishing thousands of its most dangerous vacant homes and fixing up salvageable ones as he lays the groundwork for a long-term plan to downsize. Plans to shrink or right-size the sprawling city by clearing out the most desolate sections and moving residents into stronger, more viable neighborhoods will take years to develop and decades to implement, Bing told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday. "It's a long road back," said Bing, who took office last year. "I don't want to raise expectations, false expectations. I want to be very straight with people. This is hard work and it's not going to happen overnight." The mayor said it's not known how much downsizing might cost, how much of the 139-square-mile city could be involved or what might become of cleared land. He wants to make sure residents are a part of the long-term planning process and buy into the city's eventual plan. "We're not going in and just taking people's property and saying you don't have any say," Bing said. "Those people that we can encourage and that they would agree to be moved, those are the ones that we are going to work with first." To downsize Detroit, large swaths of the now-blighted, rusted-out city could be turned back into fields or farmland, but no decisions have been made. The city already is planning to pump new investment into stronger neighborhoods, which could encourage people to move from near-empty areas. "There are going to be areas in the city where there are no homes, no buildings, no commercial entities," Bing said. "We've got to figure out what to do with that." Bing said any proposals from developers would get close scrutiny. "It's not letting somebody just come in ... and just take it for nothing," he said. "That is a concern that there is going to be this land grab, that all of this land is going to be available, and you're going to get rich folks come in and take over the ruins of the city of Detroit. That's not what's going to happen." For much of the 20th century, Detroit was an industrial powerhouse. Now, the city of nearly 2 million in the 1950s has less than half that number. On some blocks, only one or two occupied houses remain. According to one recent estimate, Detroit has 33,500 empty houses and 91,000 vacant residential lots. Federal money for renewal work will help tear down 2,500 to 3,000 homes this year and a similar number next year. Focusing on ones near schools and churches, the city will spend about $28 million on the demolitions, Bing said. By the end of three years, Bing wants about 10,000 structures to be torn down. This wave of demolitions likely won't focus on vacant commercial or industrial buildings, given the higher cost and uncertainty about pollution or other environmental problems that might be found, Bing said. The city also is seeking federal money to rehabilitate homes identified as being in better shape. Faced with a $300 million budget deficit and a dwindling tax base, Bing argues that the city can't continue to pay for police patrols, fire protection and other services for all areas. To move forward with downsizing the city, Bing said he'll need more federal help to raze buildings and relocate residents. "Even if we had a plan developed today, we don't have the funds to implement the plan," he said. Published: Thu, Mar 11, 2010

––––––––––––––––––––
 Subscribe to the Legal News!
 https://test.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available