1/24/13 - The parties locked in a legal battle over two homes in the City of Brighton that are owned by an elderly Northville couple are scheduled to appear in Livingston County Circuit Court later today. 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. A portion was found unconstitutional but the City is appealing that decision with the Michigan Supreme Court. Judge Michael Hatty ordered the Bonners to apply for city building permits in November and fix up the homes to commercial standards after ruling they lost their non-conforming status. Dubuc says Hatty also ordered that the Bonners be provided with a list of everything to fix but he instead received a list of items to basically construct a new commercial building signed by City Attorney Brad Maynes, not any building official. Dubuc says the Bonnerâs have tried to fix the homes and bring them up to residential codes but the City has prevented them from making any repairs for four years now, even though it knew dangerous conditions exist. Heâs seeking to have the Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes revoke the Cityâs building department authority, saying it has repeatedly failed to properly enforce codes. Dubuc says he also filed the necessary applications to fix the homes up to residential standards with the City but never received a response and no permits were issued. Since nothing happened within ten days, Dubuc says by law he can appeal with the state and has done so. He also wants the state to inspect the homes and grant permits for repairs. Since Judge Hatty has never issued any final order in the ongoing litigation, Dubuc canât appeal the non-conforming use order yet but says he intends to. However, the parties are to appear in court today and Dubuc is asking that an evidentiary hearing be ordered to determine costs, attorney fees and damages thus far. (JM)
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