By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — The City Council will be asked to consider a rezoning and special land use request for a new Marriott hotel during its Committee of the Whole meeting at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Dearborn Administrative Center.
The Council will hear the item during its meeting after the request failed to pass during a Dearborn Planning Commission meeting on July 9.
During the Planning Commission hearing, developers from Village Plaza Holdings submitted the rezoning and special land use request which was neither approved or denied after a 3-3 vote.
The developers would need to rezone 23490 Michigan Ave. from a vehicular parking district to a community business district in order to move forward with plans for the six-story Marriott hotel.
Developers proposed the hotel be built west of the Village Plaza, 23400 Michigan Ave. and strip mall but in front of a nearby parking structure.
Letters have been sent to the residents in the area who will be impacted to notify them of the proposed hotel plans. Residents from throughout the city have been expressing their concerns on social media including on a Facebook post by David Rustom that received 224 comments as of Aug. 9.
“The construction alone will devastate all wildlife just north of the plaza that rely on the river, yes animals drink from there,” the post read. “What are your thoughts on another hotel in the area, I think adding to already 4 or 5 in a 1-2 mile square radius of west downtown Dearborn?”
Sharon Dulmage commented, “No. What is the daily usage of the existing hotels including the Dearborn Inn, The Edward and all of the rest? That is what I would like to know.”
Another comment by Carol Smith read, “We already have thirteen hotels in the city. Do we really need another one?”
Former police officer Kenneth Paris commented, “Why not have more development in East Dbn? There are areas ripe for development. There are Gateway entrances to our city that need business and infrastructure development. Not saying that this Marriott proposal is bad, we just don’t know enough about it yet, and we should watch what develops.”
The Planning Commission will be hearing a special land use request for a multi-hotel and restaurant development proposed for 6300 Mercury Drive during its meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 13.
Dearborn Elite Hospitality put in the request for review and approval of the site plan for the property east of the Southfield Freeway and south of Mercury Drive. It is currently zoned as a community business district.
Both the Committee of the Whole meeting and Planning Commission meeting are open to the public.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected].)