1/4/13 - A hearing is scheduled later this month in the ongoing legal battle between the City of Brighton and an elderly Northville couple. Attorney Dennis Dubuc represents Leon and Marilyn Bonner, who own two homes on North Street that the City ordered demolished in January of 2009 based on its ordinance. That ordinance permits demolition of an unsafe structure deemed to be a public nuisance, without providing the owner the option to repair it. It was found unconstitutional by Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Michael Hatty - a decision that was upheld by the Michigan Court of Appeals. More recently, Hatty ruled the Bonnerâs lost their non-conforming use of the property as residential because they havenât lived in the homes or rented them out. Dubuc is seeking a stay of proceedings from the Court of Appeals until it determines if the non-conforming use was validly denied by Hatty. He says thatâs necessary to stop the process of ordering the Bonnerâs to bring the homes to commercial standards. Dubuc filed a motion asking that a final judgment be entered in the case, which Judge Hatty denied this week to allow a January 29th show/cause hearing to commence. All parties have been ordered to appear at that time. (JM)
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