Grosse Pointe Scraps Canyon Road Warehouse As Next DPW Site

GROSSE POINTE, MI — The city of Grosse Pointe has nixed the idea of using the Canyon Road warehouse as its next Department of Public Works. Council terminated the purchase agreement for the property with St. John Hospital & Medical Center Monday and is seeking alternatives for its new DPW.

According to City Manager Peter Dame, the city will lose its $20,000 earnest money deposit in the process, the Grosse Pointe News reported this week. The decision came after city officials spent months talking with Detroit residents who were concerned about the project, citing fears like pest control. The residents around Canyon said they didn’t know about the proposed use for the facility and strongly opposed the plan after rumors spread the city intended to use the facility as a garbage dump. A press release from the city indicated that the facility would have been “used to store public works vehicles and materials and will contain offices for our public works employees. It is not a garbage dump or a garbage facility.”

The outpouring of criticism ultimately resulted in Detroit rescinding its conditional approval in January, nearly three months after it was granted. City officials have attempted to explain the project, but city leaders say they were still met with opposition. The city filed an appeal in February and believes there is legal recourse to overturn the rescission, but in the end, Dame said it would not be in anybody’s interest to sue Detroit, the Grosse Pointe News reported.

“It would take too long, it would cost too much money,” he said. “In the end it’s not really, in my mind, it’s not a matter of strict budgetary considerations of whether or not to pursue it. The fact is that the people who live closest to the facility don’t want it there. I think that, notwithstanding this would be an improvement, not just for us, but for the neighborhood there. They don’t see it that way. There isn’t going to be any change in how they feel and I don’t think we would be good neighbors if we tried to force ourselves to follow through on this.”

Read the full story at the Grosse Pointe News

Rendering courtesy the City of Grosse Pointe