A Grosse Pointe Park group with a history of flaunting local ordinances was sued for a second time for “brazenly” moving forward with the construction of a $45 million performing arts center along the border of Detroit despite being ordered to stop.
Wayne County and the Fox Creek Drainage District filed the suit last month in 3rd Judicial Court, alleging the Urban Renewal Initiative Foundation (URIF) is putting residents at risk of flooding.
The lawsuit accuses URIF and the construction manager PCI Industries of deliberately ignoring a stop work order for failing to get a construction permit and continuing to build the A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Center for the Performing Arts at the border of Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park on East Jefferson Avenue and Alter Road.
A permanent structure has been built over a drain easement, which is intended to protect a pipe that moves sewage and storm water to a regional wastewater treatment plant, according to the lawsuit. The drain is aging and soon needs to be replaced, but the construction of a building along the easement makes that impossible.
The county is asking a judge to order the construction to stop.
“Defendants have demonstrated a complete lack of respect for Wayne County’s construction permit process and the Drainage District’s property rights,” the complaint states, adding that the group’s “refusal” to acknowledge the century-old easement “is baffling and without excuse.”
In April 2023, the city of Detroit sued URIF for moving forward with the construction without getting the proper permits and approvals.
The group plans to build a parking lot on historic Detroit land and initially failed to get approval.
The suit also alleged URIF began razing a building partially located in Detroit without a demolition permit.
The lawsuit was eventually settled, and the Detroit Historic District Commission approved a request in November to demolish the remains of the partially razed building, despite opposition from preservationists and neighbors.
In the latest lawsuit, filed by attorney John S. Brennan, the county and drainage district allege URIF and the construction manager have ignored repeated demands to halt construction amid warnings that the building would make it impossible to repair or replace a vital drainpipe.
“The drain is aging and will need to be replaced soon,” the lawsuit states.
If construction continues, it “will create an intolerable condition that will make maintenance and replacement of the Drain impossible without doing significant damage to the building.”
URIF and the construction manager have failed to get proper approvals at the expense of “the health, safety, and welfare of the public.”
Jay C. Juergensen, a Jefferson-Chalmers resident and lead organizer for the Jefferson Chalmers WATER Project, which advocates for initiatives to address chronic flooding problems, says it’s critically important for crews to access the pipe.
“There are tens of thousands of people who live in that basin,” Juergensen tells Metro Times. “Any household in the basin of Fox Creek could potentially be at risk due to a failure of the [drain pipe], and the inability to access it puts all those people at risk.”
Metro Times couldn’t reach URIF or PCI Industries for comment.
