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WARREN — A public nuisance order was issued for the Motor City Sports Bar & Grill with a unanimous vote by the Warren City Council at its April 22 meeting.
The bar, located on Mound Road near Eight Mile Road, was deemed a public nuisance by council members for its inability to control gatherings on its premises and nearby.
“This item has at least been a problem for a year that I’ve known about,” Council Secretary Mindy Moore said. “It was first brought to my attention by residents around the Motor City Sports Bar.”
Moore said there have been 253 calls to law enforcement in three years about the bar. Council showed videos of crowds outside of the bar and overflow parking spilling out onto the side streets in the area.
“The problems are not inside the bar, that’s not where the calls are, it’s outside in the parking lot in the streets around it,” Moore said. “The police have done targeted enforcement. They’ve tried many different things, and it’s had no effect whatsoever.”
Chapter 21 of the city’s ordinance outlines how the bar may be in violation.
“Making or causing a commotion or unnecessarily loud noise, or loud or profane music from a motor vehicle, be it in motion or stationery, whereby the peace and good order of the neighborhood is disturbed, or persons owning or occupying property in the neighborhood are disturbed or annoyed is unlawful,” the ordinance states.
The bar does have signs stating that loitering, littering, drinking and loud music are prohibited from the parking lot area.
Maria Nuculaj is the owner of the Motor City Sports Bar & Grill, which also has a location in Hamtramck. The Warren location celebrated its 14-year anniversary last March.
Nuculaj said she feels “attacked” by the public nuisance order. She said there is often inaccurate information spreading about the bar on Facebook. She said the scrutiny on her Warren location has been happening for about two years, usually during the summer.
“I feel like my business is being harassed,” she said.
The bar has a camera in its parking lot that costs $5,000 a month, according to Nuculaj. She said the device also sends out an audio warning to not loiter on the premises. The bar has its own security and Nuculaj said that the local police are called if there is an incident.
“As soon as I say, ‘Warren police,’ they’re gone,” Nuculaj said.
She also questioned the figure Moore gave at the meeting and said some of the calls could be to the surrounding area.
Nuculaj said her other location, which has been in Hamtramck for 25 years, has not had any of the same issues. She is currently being represented by the Sam Bernstein Law Firm.
“There is nothing that they asked that I didn’t comply with,” she said of her interaction with the city.
The problems could stem from the bar’s available parking. Warren Police Capt. Paul Houtos said the owner is responsible for what goes on inside the bar and its parking lot. The spillover has impacted Syracuse and Albany avenues, according to Houtos.
“It’s like a tailgate or even pregaming for the people that are going in the bar,” he said. “It’s a smaller venue. The parking lot is too small for capacity and it’s not in really good condition so you get a lot of the overflow that parks on Albany, which would be fine except people don’t leave their cars when they’re on Albany. They’re playing their music and it’s only going to get worse.”
Nuculaj said the city could do a better job with controlling how many vehicles are parked on the side streets. She added that it’s possible that the cars aren’t all patrons from her business.
“They’re just assuming those cars are probably here,” Nuculaj said.
Council Vice President Melody Magee asked if the bar had received a warning. Houtos said the owner was aware of the issue.
Moore explained that a bar in the past had made tweaks to avoid shutdown.
“Maybe the owner wants to change what sort of music he plays, what kind of place it is to alleviate these problems,” Moore said. “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.”
City Council Attorney Jeff Schoder 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 in court for it to be shut down, though the bar’s owner could act to resolve the issues before it gets shut down.
“Ultimately, you’re getting the place closed and padlocked because it’s a nuisance and certainly, just reading the definition of public nuisance in the ordinances and in common law, it certainly seems to fit,” Schroder said.
Councilman Jonathan Lafferty suggested looking at additional “no parking” signs on Albany Avenue that wouldn’t impact the residents who lived there. Houtos suggested building a wall on the west side of the property, which currently just has a fence, to help with the issues.
Ballot proposal bumped
On April 22, the City Council unanimously approved moving the police and fire safety millage to the Nov. 4 ballot. The millage is set to add a renewal of the levy of 4.6083 mills.
The millage was originally approved at the council’s March 11 meeting to appear on the Aug. 5 ballot. Acting City Attorney Mary Michaels said that an informal review by the attorney general’s office caused the city to move the proposal. She said moving the election ultimately came down to the costs associated with getting it on the ballot.
“We anticipate other ballot proposals in November that will be citywide,” Michaels said. “This way we’re not duplicating costs, we’re not duplicating staffing resources. It was just an economical decision.”
