Detroit residents urge action on zoning fees, housing shortages and neighborhood safety during committee public comment

Public comment at the Detroit City Council Neighborhood and Community Service Standing Committee on March 13 opened with callers and in-person speakers pressing the committee on zoning appeal costs, the city’s housing shortage and several neighborhood safety and development concerns.

Several callers objected to a recent policy change that would charge people for Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) transcripts. Tyson Gersh, a resident, said the BZA “asked to prepare transcripts for all of its proceedings” and warned that charging appellants could obstruct appeals. He said, “this idea of just imposing nearly $5,000 in transcript fees to me would appear to either be retaliatory, or purely for the purpose of obstructing my right to appeal.” Another caller said bluntly, “$6.75 per page is outrageous,” calling the cost “obstructionist.”

The transcript-fee comments followed multiple public-safety and…