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June 23, 2016
Arrest follows police warning of area burglaries
PLANNING COMMISSION
CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF CANTON
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to Michigan Public Act 110 of 2006, of the State of Michigan, as amended, and pursuant
to the Zoning Ordinance of the Charter Township of Canton that the Planning Commission of the Charter Township of Canton
will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, July 11, 2016, in the
First Floor Meeting Room of the Canton Township Administration
Building, 1150 S. Canton Center Road at 7:00 p.m.
on the following proposed special land use request as provided in Section
27.03 of the Canton Township Zoning Ordinance:
FAMILY FUN CENTER SPECIAL LAND USE
- CONSIDER REQUEST FOR SPECIAL LAND USE APPROVAL FOR A
COIN OPERATED AMUSEMENT DEVICE ESTABLISHMENT AS REQUIRED IN SECTION 17.02B7 FOR PARCEL NO.
138 99 0006 701. Property is located south of Michigan Avenue between Lilley and Morton Taylor Roads.
Written comments addressed to the Planning Commission should be received at the Canton Township Administration Building,
1150 Canton Center S. prior to Thursday, June 30, 2016, in order to be included in the materials submitted for review.
SEE ATTACHED MAP
Greg Greene, Chairman
Publish: Newspaper-June 23, 2016
EC062316-1341 2.5 x 7.953
PLANNING COMMISSION
CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF CANTON
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to Michigan Public Act 110 of 2006, of the State of Michigan, as amended, and pursuant
to the Zoning Ordinance of the Charter Township of Canton that the Planning Commission of the Charter Township of Canton
will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, July 11, 2016 in the
First Floor Meeting Room of the Canton Township
Administration Building, 1150 S. Canton Center Road at 7:00 p.m.
on the following proposed special land use request as pro-
vided in Section 27.03 of the Canton Township Zoning Ordinance:
FRANK'S AUTO RECONDITIONING SPECIAL LAND USE
- CONSIDER REQUEST FOR SPECIAL LAND USE
APPROVAL FOR AN AUTOMOBILE REPAIR GARAGE AS REQUIRED IN SECTION 22.02B6 FOR PARCEL NO. 005 02
0014 000 (8240 RONDA). Property is located east of Ronda Drive and south of Joy Road.
Written comments addressed to the Planning Commission should be received at the Canton Township Administration Building,
1150 Canton Center S. prior to Thursday, July 7, 2016 in order to be included in the materials submitted for review.
SEE ATTACHED MAP
Greg Greene, Chairman
Publish: Newspaper-June 23, 2016
EC062316-1338 2.5 x 7.953
The on-going controversy
regarding tax liabilities on 190-
acres of land returned to the City
of Detroit by the Michigan
Supreme Court was addressed by
Plymouth Township Supervisor
ShannonPrice last week.
The land, purchased by the
township for $636,000 at an invalid
Wayne County tax foreclosure sale
in 2011, was first returned to
Detroit by a Wayne County Circuit
Court decision. That decision was
upheld by a three-judge appeals
court panel and reinforced by the
recent decision of the Michigan
Supreme Court justices who
refused to even hear arguments
from former state attorney general
Mike Cox on the issue. The town-
ship has spent nearly $85,000 in
legal fees in fighting to retain own-
ership of the property, located on
the former Detroit House of
Corrections site on five Mile
between Napier and Ridge roads
in the township.
Price said last week that the
legal wrangling and inherent
attorney fees are continuing as the
township attempts to reach a set-
tlement regarding taxes paid on
the land by the township. He
denied claims made by attorneys
for Wayne County that negotia-
tionswere at a standstill.
County officials have consis-
tentlymaintained that all informa-
tion leading to the improper sale
of the land came from Plymouth
Township and that they relied
entirely on that information in
foreclosing on the property and
then offering it for sale. City of
Detroit attorneys prevailed in all
courts citing a state provision
exempting municipally-owned
land from tax foreclosure and
proving that the City of Detroit
was never correctly notified of any
taxes due or owing.
The land, part of a larger par-
cel, was never properly recorded
as a separate entity by Plymouth
Township. When the taxes
remained unpaid on the 133-acre
tract sold to a developer, the entire
parcel was listed as tax-delin-
quent by the township. Wayne
County, acting as the collection
agency, then took legal action fore-
closing on the entire parcel, rather
than just the 133 acres. The town-
ship then immediately purchased
the land, once on the tax rolls at
more than $15 million, from the
county. When the City of Detroit
was informed of the error by local
resident Richard Sharland, who
has farmland near the property,
they approached the township in
an attempt to negotiate the return
of the property or a negotiated
sale to Plymouth Township.
Attorneys for Detroit claimed
repeatedly that their efforts at set-
tlement were rebuffed by town-
ship officials, including then
SupervisorRichardReaume.
Last week, Price displayed an
email from Wayne County
Corporate Council Jacob
Ghannam acknowledging that
talks were now occurring between
the township and the office of the
Wayne County Treasurer. The
email was dated only one day
after comments from Ghannam
denying that such negotiations
were under way and criticizing
both Price and Cox for their fail-
ure to return phone calls were
published in The Eagle. Price,
however, maintains that negotia-
tions had been continuing and
that the entities have been very
close to a settlement for several
weeks.
This week, Ghannam told The
Eagle that he could “no longer
comment on the matter” and
directed all inquiries to theWayne
County
Director
of
Communications James Canning.
Inquiries this week were
addressed by Wayne County
Senior Communications Manager
RyanBridges.
“Given that we are actively
involved in settlement negotia-
tions, we would like them confi-
dential until completed,” he
responded.
“We're really close. I was hope-
ful we had a resolution; there's a
couple of things we have to do on
our end and get back to the
Treasurers' Office. We gave them
half information…not the
Treasurers' Office but the
Corporate Counsel for the Count,”
Price summarized.
A 26-year-old Livonia man is
facing felony charges in thefts
throughout the area, including a
burglary in Plymouth Township,
according to a report from
PlymouthTownshippolice.
Officers from Plymouth
Township arrested Jonathan
Andrzej Urso at 1:45 a.m. June 15
in the area of Northville Road
and Edward Hines Drive after a
brief foot chase. The officers on
patrol had initially observed
Urso wearing dark clothing rid-
ing a bike without lights in the
area of Edward Hines and
Wilcox Road, according to police
reports. When the officers
attempted to stop the suspect
and speak to him, he fled, riding
the bike into a nearby condo-
minium complex where he
reportedly threw the bike over a
fence, climbed over, mounted the
bike and rode away. After the
brief foot pursuit by officers,
Urso was taken into custody and
arrested, police said.
While police were processing
Urso, a home invasion was
reported in the area where Urso
was arrested. Items from previ-
ous burglaries, including a Wii
gaming system were found in
Urso's backpack according to
police reports.
Further investigation, includ-
ing an internet search, revealed
photos of Urso holding reported
stolen items including a hand-
gun reported stolen in Westland.
Plymouth Township detectives
were able to determine the loca-
tion where the photos were
taken and search warrants were
executed at two locations, one in
Livonia and the other in
DearbornHeights.
Members of the Western
Wayne County CRT assisted in
the execution of the search war-
rants and property was recov-
ered that was reported stolen
from vehicles and homes
throughout the area, police said.
An ATV valued at $8000, report-
ed stolen from a Plymouth
Township home, along with
shotguns, laptop computers and
jewelry were also recovered
from the home in Dearborn
Heights.
Urso has been charged with:
Home Invasion, a 20-year felony;
Entry Without Breaking With
Intent, a five-year felony;
Receiving andConcealing Stolen
Property $1,000 or more, a five-
year felony and Receiving and
Concealing Stolen Property $200
or more but less than $1000, a
one-year misdemeanor, accord-
ing to a report frompolice.
He was arraigned before
Judge James Plakas at the 35th
District Court and a not guilty
plea on all charges entered for
him. His bondwas set at $100,000
and a preliminary hearing on
the charges set for July 8.
The arrest followed reports
from police last week regarding
multiple thefts from unlocked
cars and open garages in the
area.
Don Howard
Staff Writer
Supervisor disputes county attorney’s comments
Centennial celebration
The C.L. Finlan & Son, Inc. insurance agency marked 100
years in business last week with an open house at the
Halyard Drive location in Plymouth. A crowd of well wishers
stopped by to congratulate agency President Kirk Kohn at
left, and the 20 agency employees on the remarkable
anniversary. Chamber of Commerce representatives marked
the event with a special ribbon cutting ceremony. The
agency has been affiliated with Citizens Insurance since it
first opened for business and became licensed with Auto
Owners Insurance in 1925, with Cincinnati Insurance in 1992
and Frankenmuth Insurance in 2007, Kohn said. The compa-
ny offers all types of insurance including auto, homeowners,
tenant, condominium, motorcycle, umbrella, workers' com-
pensation, business, and both life and health coverage. "Our
goal is to protect the assets of our customers in an ever-
changing insurance environment," Kohn said.
Photo by Dave Willett
