Originally Posted by
shovelhead
Yes Hooters came to Novi. And it almost cost the city dearly.
You see, just after the previous debacle [[Sandstone and a 65 MILLION dollar damage award against the city of Novi) and settlement of said damage award the "forward" and "moral" city council decided that Hooters should NOT get a liquor license, after they were promised one. After being denied a couple of times, and Hooters threatening a court case, city council finally ok's the license.
Poor planning is a trademark of Novi. Family on both sides there back into the 30's, personally lived there on and off from the early 50's thru 79, out of state until the late 80's until '04, when we finally had enough of poor city services, poor planning, selective ordinance enforcement, and general head in the sand due to putting the cart before the horse so to speak with poor planning. Let's see, when Twelve Oaks first opened in '77, Novi Road was still TWO lanes north of Grand River. How's that for planning? That road was built piecemeal for years afterwards.
Twelve Mile was not improved until the late 90's and how about Grand River between Haggerty and Novi Road? That stretch was master planned in the late 60's to be a five lane highway, not just asphalt covering over a 1920's concrete base. Before I-96 was opened in the late 50's, overcrowding on Grand River was handled by a temporary lane on the south side of the roadway which was removed after the expressway was completed.
My uncle had a gas station at the "four corners" and as a youngster in the 50's I still remember the backups on Grand River, not to mention when Paragon Steel was in full swing in the 60's, Wixom Assembly too.
How the city planning commission allowed Fountain Walk? Well the developers usually got anything they wanted with little or no input from the city. Just a rubber stamp "ok".
Last time I paid attention to that "destination mall" they were going to reconfigure it, tear down Dick's Sporting Goods and relocate them. Last time I drove by, DIck's was still there. Some redesign was done IIRC, but the last time I stepped in there was 05, a bunch from work met at Hooters. Contrary to city council, my morals were not shattered, that happened years before....
Rant over, hasn't been my problem for seven years.......