Moroun companies pay off $156K in Detroit city fines
This article appeared in the Free Press around a month ago, and I remember my supervisor had Damaris and I read it the day after it was published. Matty Moroun is a hot topic all over the city right now, especially as he attempts to acquire land near a prominent park in Southwest Detroit for his proposed bridge to Canada. He has also come up in many a conversation here on the East Side, as he just purchased a large trucking yard under the company Crown Enterprises. My supervisors bring up his name seemingly every day, always in a very negative light, as large trucks make the community unsafe, ruin the roads that weren’t built for them, and add more pollution and noise to the area.
I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the city seems ok with continuing to give him very valuable land all over the city for well under what it is worth. He clearly hasn’t proved himself a good land owner, as he neglects to take care of the properties already in his possession. This article shows he only paid the fines he as acquired through neglect of his properties as negotiations for the proposed bridge land have intensified. The train station that he owns remains an international symbol for what many outsiders believe to be the city’s condition, and he only recently put in new windows as a condition for the potential sale of the bridge property. There are many other reasons the city should stop appeasing Moroun, the most fundamental being that much of what he owns remain blighted eyesores with which he hasn’t done a thing.
Loved reading your post! You’re right! This is completely ridiculous to sell precious parts of our city to someone who obviously doesn’t not care about the citizens. It’s very obvious that Moroun only paid his fines in order to purchase more land. If the city doesn’t take care of their property at least have the decency to sell it to someone who is responsible and will put it to good use!!! Gosh!