You Can’t Fight City Hall (or Can You?)
Southfield code enforcement letters haunt small business owners
By Cal Abbo
Last month, several small retailers located in the City of Southfield received letters from various code enforcement agents on behalf of the city.
The letters asked these retailers, which tended to be independently-owned gas stations, to move any “outside storage containers” inside.
According to Southfield ordinances, outside storage is permitted only in the industrial district. It is, however, commonplace to see corner stores with ice chests and propane tank storage just outside the store. This has left store owners confused about their properties and how to treat the large storage containers when they have left them outside for so long.
Sam Bakkal, who owns a BP station on the corner of 13 mile and Greenfield, received a letter like this from the code enforcement office. His letter referred to the original site plan at the location, claiming that it did not include a permanent outdoor ice box.
Saad Abbo, President of U.S. Ice.
Bakkal purchased the fully constructed building 27 years ago. “Originally when we placed it outside, I asked the department of code enforcement where to put it,” he said. “They told me I could put it on the back or the side of the building.”
Sam Bakkal, BP gas station owner.
3 years ago, according to Bakkal, he and many other gas station owners received letters from the city nearly identical to those received last month. “At the time, we organized ourselves and went to the city council meeting,” he said. “They put the issue to rest. It came back again 3 weeks ago.”
Many other small store owners, like Bakkal, purchased buildings that were already constructed with site plans submitted long ago. They’ve had ice boxes outside, which is standard practice, since they moved into the business. Only recently has the city began enforcing this specific code violation.
“I don’t have a site plan because when I purchased the location, the building was already built,” Bakkal said. “I feel even if there is a discrepancy between the requirements and the site plan, I should be grandfathered in.” Bakkal also worried about customer safety if he moved the ice box indoors and got the floors wet every time he received a delivery.
Another business affected by the surprising code enforcement letters is Saad Abbo’s U.S. Ice Corp. Many Chaldeans and otherwise independent gas stations use his ice services and keep the box outside their stores. Just a few weeks ago, Abbo said, he began receiving calls from his clients asking for advice or requesting that he take his ice chests back. Instead, Abbo turned to the Chaldean Chamber of Commerce for help.
“We called the Chaldean Chamber of Commerce and talked to Martin Manna. He has a relationship with the city and they are working on it together,” Abbo said. “Right now, they put a hold on it to investigate further and figure out what’s going to happen.”
Abbo confirmed that this issue has reared its head in the past. “Every time, the city worked with us,” he said. “But we need to get a solution on a more permanent basis.” Now that the Chamber is involved, he’s hopeful this could be the last time anyone receives a letter.
The Chaldean News reached out to James Wern, a code enforcement officer for the City of Southfield whose name was signed on some of the letters, for comment on this ongoing story. He declined to comment on the matter but directed the inquiry to Southfield’s community relations department; as of publishing, The Chaldean News has not received a response to the request for comment.