CLINTON TWP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Clinton Township neighborhood is demanding action after a suspected party house crash left one woman's car destroyed and township leaders questioning whether a home was operating illegally as a short-term rental.
Watch Evan Sery's report below
Kathleen Cecil said she was jolted awake around 1:30 a.m. Monday by the sound of the crash outside her home.
"Approximately 1:30 I woke up to a huge crashing noise," Cecil said. "To be perfectly honest, I thought a car had hit the house."
Cecil's car was totaled. Surveillance video from homes on Fox Pointe and Alden drives shows a vehicle leaving a home on Alden Drive just after 1 a.m., veering onto a sidewalk before crashing into Cecil's parked car.
"I just found mayhem when I came out, the car had hit my vehicle and had dragged it about 15 feet, and then all the airbags deployed, roughly 4 to 5 girls trying to get out of the car, indicating to get the bottles out of the car," Cecil said.
Neighbors in the Clinton Township community south of 19 Mile say they are outraged — but not surprised.
Pat Visger lives directly across the street from the Alden Drive home, which is officially listed on Airbnb and VRBO. He said large, noisy gatherings have been coming from the home all summer long.
"Absolutely, yeah, its been loud, we've up at night, traffic, noise, parties, fights in the street," Visger said.
Visger shared video he says depicts the ongoing disturbances, including what he described as a pay-to-enter party the weekend before the crash.
"And then this past weekend, seemed to be a pay to party, 100 kids in the backyard, I say kids 16-25 age range," Visger said.
This Monday, neighbors will bring those concerns to a Clinton Township Board of Trustees meeting at the civic center.
Township Trustee Shannon King said short-term rentals and Airbnbs are not permitted in residential areas.
"I understand people are completely frustrated, they have every right to come to us and talk," King said.
Just hours before the meeting, the township posted a bright orange warning on the Alden Drive home — one of 2 civil infractions issued to the address within the last 2 weeks. I spoke with the homeowner by phone, but he did not have an official comment.
King said the township is working to strengthen enforcement.
"We're working on different ways, to be able work with enforcement to make sure folks who have Airbnbs in residential areas, they understand they're not to be having them," King said.
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