'Operation Compliance' goes after illegal businesses in the city of Detroit
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 01/24/2013
(WXYZ) -
Thursday marked the start of Operation Compliance, an effort aimed at closing illegal businesses in the city of Detroit.
"There are revenues involved. If you don't go through the proper process we end up missing a lot of money. We're trying to recoup that as best we can," says Supervising Building Inspector Glenn Davis.
7 Action News was there as city building inspectors and Detroit Police shut down a tire store on the city's west side. They say it is zoned for retail, but was only selling used, not new, tires."You can say there are bigger fish, but they're being dealt with. This is a big fish too. We have 1500 illegal businesses in the city of Detroit," says Davis.
If the business owner or any other person breaches the sealed entrance of the closed businesses, that person will be subject to a $500 fine per day and/or jail time. The enforcement team expects to close an average of 20 illegal businesses every week in the city of Detroit.City officials say illegal businesses, like the four that were shut down today, often add to blight and crime throughout Detroit.
We're told inspectors will regularly visit the businesses they closed in order to make sure they weren't reopened illegally.City officials say the owners of the illegal businesses they are targeting have all been warned months in advance in an effort to get them into compliance. We're told 7 businesses got into compliance and avoided being shut down today.
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
PRINTMore Detroit Headlines
-
Henry Ford & Beaumont merger off
The proposed merger of Henry Ford Health System and Beaumont Health System is off.
-
Police searching for missing 20 y.o.
Police are searching for a missing 20-year-old who was last seen at Players Strip Club on 8 Mile and Schoenherr in Detroit.
-
COPS: Woman dead, 2 wounded in shooting
Police say a 55-year-old woman is dead and two men are wounded following a shooting at a vacant Detroit residence believed to have been used for drug activity.
