Crown Enterprises, a company owned by the billionaire Moroun family, now holds 160 of the 215 parcels in Cadillac Heights, a neighborhood on Detroit’s east side that BridgeDetroit has reported is 99% Black. On those lots sits the Kronos concrete plant. Residents have filed about 80 complaints about the dust it throws into the air.
The City Council will hold a public hearing Nov. 19 on a rezoning that could limit what the company can do next. The City Planning Commission voted Oct. 22 to recommend changing some of the land around the plant from heavy to light industrial, a change meant to put a buffer between the plant and the homes still standing. Commissioner Fred Russell Jr. asked for the proposal. The council has the final say, as ProPublica reported.
The people who live there are not satisfied with a buffer. “We still want them to shut down or move,” said Sharon Buttry, a resident organizer, who acknowledged the rezoning was some progress. One resident described “literal whiteout conditions” on dusty days. More than 30 people spoke at recent commission meetings.
How Crown came to own most of the neighborhood is part of the dispute. The company has taken over more than 160 lots since 2019, partly through a city land deal that year tied to the Stellantis auto plant. The city later gave Crown first rights to buy more homes. Crown says it has invested about $10 million in the operation.
The plant itself has a contested history. BridgeDetroit reported that Crown started building before it had city permits, that the city’s buildings department ordered work stopped in June 2022, and that the city issued an operating permit months later anyway. The outlet also reported that the plant may sit closer to homes than the 250-foot setback state environmental rules call for. The city has since ticketed the company under its 2024 fugitive dust ordinance.
The offers made to neighbors tell the other half. Robert Bostic, who lived in the neighborhood for nearly 40 years, was offered $12,000 for his house when the median price was $33,000. “He trying to take over everything now,” he told BridgeDetroit. “He buying up everything around here.”
Kenneth Dobson, a vice president of the Morouns’ Ambassador Bridge Company, has pointed to “45 to 60 union job opportunities for local residents” at the site.
The council’s hearing is set for Nov. 19.
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