Detroit Mayor set to roll out new enforcement plan to clear abandon vehicles

(CBS DETROIT) – During Wednesday's State of the City address, Mayor Mike Duggan is expected to zero in on quality of life issues—like what to do with abandoned cars and boats.

It's a complaint Jonathan Coffey has had for the majority of the five years he's lived in the Dexter Linwood neighborhood.

"I ask them [the city] to clean it up, but I'm just waiting. They've been coming back to clean it up, but never finish it up," Coffey said.

Around the corner from Coffey, illegal dumping has caused tires to turn into planters, and it's cultivating the wrong kind of attention. And so during the State of the City address, Mayor Duggan will lay out a new enforcement plan that will be carried out by the police, parking, and building departments.

Under current city law, a vehicle left parked in the same location for more than two days is considered abandoned.

The city says street cleaning and snow removal are difficult with abandoned vehicles in the way, and those in yards are possible fire hazards.

"So, if you have an auto repair shop in your side lot or somewhere around your property or two, if you're Miss Johnson, and you've been looking at this for a long time, well, guess what? The City of Detroit, we're definitely going to be addressing that," Detroit Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison told CBS News Detroit.

So, it's very likely that in the near future, more abandoned vehicles will be towed to an impound lot, and if no one claims them, they'll go up on the auction block.

"There are a lot of changes that's being done to the city right now. So to see that they're actually in the process of fixing everything up, that's a good thing to see," Kyanna Schofield, who was visiting family in the Dexter Linwood neighborhood, said.