City reports progress on solar site acquisitions, outlines condemnations and relocation steps amid resident complaints

Detroit City Council heard a legal update Tuesday on the city’s neighborhood solar program and the related property acquisitions, with Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett saying the administration has completed acquisition of Phase 1 parcels and filed multiple condemnation complaints while also moving energy-efficiency upgrades for nearby homes into construction.

The update outlined why the city has filed condemnation cases, how many parcels are involved, and the status of relocation agreements — information that council members said they will receive in writing after the meeting. Council members and staff also responded to public commenters who said title records and foreclosure steps left homeowners without the legal protections they expected.

Mallett, corporation counsel for the city of Detroit, said: “Phase 1 legal update, we’ve acquired all 965 Phase 1 parcels, including 245 privately owned parcels. It is true that we have filed 104 condemnation complaints.” He added that the city is litigating “just compensation disputes in 23 condemnation cases, including 41 parcels, 20 of which are owned by a single landowner.”

The city described Phase 2 as well: Mallett said 430 parcels are included in Phase 2 (104 privately owned); 27 Phase 2 parcels have structures and 403 of the Phase 2 parcels are vacant lots, the majority owned by governmental entities, principally the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

Why it matters: Council members pressed administration representatives for details about whether people displaced by acquisitions relocated inside Detroit, how many vacant lots were…