Letter writing campaign to protest violence at downtown nightclubs

[corktownyuppie]

And an interesting discussion going back and forth on theroot.com about who is at fault and why. I wonder why we in Detroit [[both the region and the city) don't have this kind of candid, civil discourse. Instead we get the comment section in the freep.com.....

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/wisconsi...rants#comments

[corktownyuppie]

Sorry I haven't update this, but it's been a long journey and every time I think to do it, something changes.

Approximately 20+ people signed the letter that I know of, and it was sent to the Mayor's Office, City Council, the Chief of Police, the commander of the DPD precinct downtown, the owners of the Kales Building, the developers of the David Whitney Building, Broderick Tower, Mike Illitch, Dan GIlbert, and the Downtown Development Authority, and the MEDC.

I received written responses from Commander Williams of the DPD precinct, Chief Godbee, and a representative from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Soon after, the restaurants on Park worked together with other local business owners to coordinate a movement to create a safer environment on Grand Circus Park.

Residents of the Kales building were sending in written complaints about everything from public urination, verbal harassment from club patrons, and 2 fights that had taken place on the corner of Adams and Park. There were several reports of gunshots taking place after the club closed one evening. Illegal parking was rampant, as one night I was personally exiting the underground parking lot only to find an F-150 parked directly in front of the exit ramp, blocking access to the street. [[Tow trucks arrived a few minutes later)

Soon after those complaints, Commander Williams of DPD began coordinating a heavy police presence in the area. Some evenings, DPD shut down Adams to all access other than pedestrians. Most evenings there were officers on the corners of Adams/Park and Adams/Woodward. At least one night, a gang unit was standing in front of the line entering the club, with a patroller doing laps around Grand Circus Park, and then another one doing Laps up and down Woodward.

Somewhere along the way, it was determined that LAX was operating without a permanent liquor license. There is an ordinance which allows restaurants to rent their establishments out to non-profits who can register for a 24-hour liquor license. Well, apparently, they are the beacon of the non-profit community, because they were using this ordinance to operate 2-3 nights per weekend for months rather than wait for their permanent license to be approved.

The establishments along the Grand Circus Park area organized an even bigger petition, and they collected signatures earlier this week. Representatives from the area attended a hearing in Lansing held by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. The MLCC has decided to deny LAX's request for additional charity licensing. At this time, LAX Hangar Club does not have any type of liquor license. They are not able to apply for additional charity licensing until January 2012, at which time a hearing will take place.

So that's where we are right now.

Crazy thing is that had LAX taken a totally different strategy, it wouldn't have to be this way. Had they worked together with DPD from the very beginning, outlining a plan for traffic control, parking, extra security, forbidding double parking and the "street party" that ensues when traffic can't move, steering patron traffic away from the residential areas...it could've made for a friendlier relationship.

But at this point...after 2 months of still dealing with unruly behavior...my bet is that all the establishents in that area will do everything possible to advocate against their getting a permanent liquor license now.

[swingline]

Many thanks to Corktownyuppie, Planner and all those who took the initiative to trigger an effective response to the Mandees/LAX nonsense from city officials. Well done.

[stromberg2]

Nice job. It proves that we can get rid of the thug life!

Stromberg2

[downtownguy]

Mandees closed up a few weeks ago without much fanfare. They had a bona fide liquor license so far as I know. Does anybody know what was their reason for closing? Did they actually cave to community pressure? I didn't expect them to go away without a fight.