Warren City Council receives pushback for deeming bar a public nuisance

WARREN — Members of the community spoke out against the Warren City Council’s previous decision to deem a bar a public nuisance.

Those in favor of keeping Motor City Sports Bar & Grill open spoke during the public comment portion of the City Council’s May 13 meeting.

“For over a decade Motor City Bar and Grill has not just been a place to grab a drink, but a gathering spot for neighbors and friends,” resident Amelia Vicente said. “It provides a sense of community in an age where social connection can be scarce. The establishment has fostered an environment of inclusivity and a place of celebration.”

The bar is located on Mound Road near Eight Mile Road. The council unanimously voted to start the process of classifying the bar as a public nuisance, following discussion by council members and law enforcement at an April 22 meeting. The discussion touched on the 253 calls to the address by police in three years and showed videos of patrons gathering outside the bar and cars parked in the nearby neighborhood.

In a previous Warren Weekly article, Motor City Sports Bar owner Maria Nuculaj pushed back on these accusations. She cited signage and said the bar was investing thousands of dollars in security. Nuculaj said the bar’s other location, in Hamtramck, did not receive the same kind of attention. Part of the trouble, according to Nuculaj, is social media rumors.

“I feel like my business is being harassed,” she said after the April meeting.

Following that session, City Council attorney Jeff Schroder said the request would be referred to the city attorney’s office and a nuisance action would be filed in circuit court. The city would need to show that the business has been a problem for it to be shut down, though the bar’s owner could act to resolve the issues before it gets that far.

Schroder clarified the council’s vote in an interview after the May meeting.

“I don’t think they want to go to court and shut them down,” Schroder said. “I think that was designed to get their attention and to get them to come to the table and solve these problems.”

Community activist Oliver Gantt came to the Warren City Council meeting in support of the Motor City Sports Bar.

“This is not how government is supposed to work. You don’t ambush small business owners without notice,” Gantt said. “You don’t threaten someone’s livelihood without giving them a chance to respond, as is the case here.”

Nuculaj was at the meeting. When she attempted to cede her three-minute public comment to Gantt, Council President Angela Rogensues said this would be a violation of the meeting’s rules. Nuculaj did not speak at the meeting.

Near Gantt, a man had on a shirt that read “Hey Mindy Moore ‘REALLY,’” referring to the council’s secretary. Moore brought the item to the council’s April meeting. One of her comments in particular drew attention.

“Maybe the owner wants to change what sort of music he plays, what kind of place it is to alleviate these problems,” Moore said at the April meeting. “If not, I think we have to shut them down…Somebody’s going to get hurt really bad one of these days. Somebody’s going to get run over or worse.”

Gantt addressed that at the lectern.

“Let’s be honest. That wasn’t about music, was it? That was about race,” Gantt said. “That was about who you think belongs here and who doesn’t. The patrons of this establishment are predominantly Black. They support the business. They support this community, and they deserve the same respect and protection as any other group in this city.”

Moore, in an interview after the May meeting, said her previous comment referred to the now-closed Hot Rock Sports Bar & Music Cafe. Hot Rock, infamous for an early 2000s altercation involving the rapper Eminem, was in a similar situation as the Motor City Sports Bar. Moore said by changing the format, the bar avoided being shut down.

“They didn’t have the same problems with the older crowd that they did with the younger crowd,” she said.

She said many of the people who reached out to her to complain about the bar are Black. Moore said the complaints were made by both residents and former employees.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with race,” Moore said. “This is all about wanting our neighborhood to be nice. Some people have said that they thought things weren’t too bad until they started with the DJ. I don’t know what that has to do with anything at all, but that’s what they said. A former security guard said he wouldn’t go in there for a thousand dollars an hour.”

Former City Council candidate Jerry Bell called out council for its treatment of the bar, saying the council should’ve brought the owner in before the bar was declared a public nuisance. He said the bar has cameras, signs and adequate parking to prevent the issues discussed by the council. Bell also said they’d be willing to build a wall, which was suggested by Warren Police Capt. Paul Houtos at the April meeting.

“I had to talk to this business owner on Sunday to hear her crying about you guys,” Bell said. “Shame on you all. You should have went out and did your homework Mindy, and you didn’t. You let us down.”

Bell said the council secretary was too attached to the issue.

Moore said she remembers another venue that was eventually closed down after council deemed it a public nuisance. Araden Hall, which functioned as a hub for social gatherings according to Moore, was shut down on Eight Mile prior to the trouble with Hot Rocks.

According to previous reporting from the Warren Weekly, the trouble at Araden Moore ranged from allegations of disturbing the peace to shootings, stretching back to at least 2003.  Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Diane Druzinski ordered the venue shut down after a shooting on Jan. 1, 2006, left 27-year-old Anthony McCommons dead. Two others were injured.

Moore said she doesn’t claim to know how Motor City Sports Bar & Grill can solve its problems.

“I don’t know if the owners of the bar can do anything or not,” Moore said. “If they can’t do anything, then you’ve got to shut them down because I don’t know what the answer is. I just know one other place figured out what they can do to stop the calls.”