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Council approves site plans, brownfield measures for WNBA practice facility and DCFC stadium; environmental plan outlined
Summary
Detroit City Council approved a set of related development resolutions (including site‑plan review, commercial rehabilitation certificates and a brownfield plan) for a WNBA practice facility and the Detroit City FC stadium project. An environmental consultant described soil removal, capping and a maintenance plan for the Uniroyal site.
Detroit City Council voted, without recorded objections, to approve multiple development items tied to a proposed WNBA practice facility at the Uniroyal site and related DCFC stadium resolutions. The motions carried by voice vote and waivers were attached as part of the approvals.
Council member Durhall moved the group of resolutions that included site‑plan review and commercial rehabilitation certificates (line items 17.17 and 17.39) and later moved approval of related brownfield and certificate items (line items 17.22, 17.4, 17.41 and 17.44). There were questions and discussion about parking, community benefits and remediation but no recorded roll‑call objections.
During the discussion, Adam Patton, the project’s environmental consultant, explained the contamination history at the Uniroyal parcel and described plans to address it. Patton said investigators have performed “several hundred” soil borings and additional borings across the property; planned measures include removing roughly two feet of surface material in affected areas, installing a geotextile demarcation liner (a dermal contact barrier), and placing up to 18 inches of clean cover (soil or engineered fill) surfaced with grass or synthetic turf. He said an operations and maintenance plan will require ongoing inspections and reporting and that owners would be responsible for repairs or maintenance identified in those inspections.
Council members voiced continuing concerns about parking and neighborhood impacts and several members asked the administration to return with more detailed operational plans and periodic reporting to the council. Member Santiago Romero said the Neighborhood Advisory Council and resident NAC members voiced outstanding requests that the council and developers should continue to address. The motions passed and staff recorded waivers and attachments associated with the approvals.
What happens next: With approvals in place, the approvals allow the developers to proceed to the next permitting and remediation steps; council members requested additional details, including ongoing monitoring reports and more community engagement on parking and mitigation.
