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Dearborn business owners, council spar over resumed downtown parking special assessment
Summary
A downtown property owner questioned a newly resumed special assessment for off‑street parking; city staff and elected officials explained the assessment formula, the decision not to bill prior suspended years, and who within the district will be charged.
A downtown Dearborn property owner told the City Council on Feb. 7 that he was surprised to receive a special assessment notice saying his building at 1054 Monroe is deficient in required parking.
The comment prompted a lengthy staff explanation and questions from council members about how the city calculates the assessment, who is charged and whether the city would collect years missed during the COVID‑era pause. Council President Cerini and Jordan Twardy, the city’s director of economic development, described the special assessment district (SAD) approach the city now uses to help pay for capital and ongoing costs for the downtown parking structure.
Why it matters: The assessment affects many downtown businesses, and property owners told the council the charge can be a substantial annual cost for smaller enterprises. City officials said the assessment is intended to cover maintenance and long‑term capital replacement for parking infrastructure that supports downtown economic development.
At the public comment podium, the business owner — identified in the meeting as Mr. Alcadri — said: “I received a parking assessment for 1054 Monroe. It says that I have a parking deficiency. So I'm trying to understand how a hundred year old building ... has a parking deficiency.”
Jordan Twardy explained the basic calculation: the city determines required parking based on zoning use, totals required stalls for a district, subtracts stalls provided on a property, and bills the deficiency across properties that remain short. “Just to elaborate, so it's based on zoning use, right?” Twardy said during the discussion.
Council President Cerini said the program was originally approved in 2018 but that billing was suspended during the pandemic. “Rather than go retroactive and try to collect multiple years, we said that's just a loss that we the city absorb,” Cerini said, adding that the city resumed billing “fresh” rather than trying to collect missed years.
Mayor (name not specified) described the practical choice the city faced after eliminating paid curb‑side parking: “Because we've done away with paid parking, the only alternative is through a special assessment.” The mayor, answering questions from the property owner and council members, said the assessment district is intended to be rationally related to those who benefit from the parking and is drawn to correspond roughly to the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) footprint.
Council members and staff also addressed other common questions raised by business owners: which properties are charged (the city said roughly 90 business owners in the district are affected), whether surface lots and remote decks are counted (the city said all parking spaces within the district footprint are included), and whether the city would bill retroactively back to the original 2018 adoption (the city said it did not pursue retroactive collections for the pandemic years).
Economic development staff and the assessor’s office said they have circulated a letter and an FAQ to downtown property owners; staff also said the call center and community relations office have copies to answer follow‑up calls. Twardy and other staff offered to provide a map of the SAD footprint to the requester.
Council members pressed for clear outreach. Councilwoman Eric asked whether the notice packet included the history that several years had not been billed; staff said the December notice included an FAQ but that staff would ensure a copy of the explanatory letter and the district map were distributed more widely.
The discussion did not include a council vote; it took place during the public comment period and as staff answered questions about the SAD and billing practice.
Ending: Council members directed staff to share the district map and the explanatory letter to downtown property owners and to make the assessor’s contacts and billing details available through the city’s call center and business liaison channels so property owners who receive invoices can get specific answers.
