Judge orders Northville officials to open downtown streets
Downtown streets in Northville will remain open to traffic until a formal ruling on the issue from an appeals court.
Last week, Judge Charlene Elder of the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Wayne County denied a request from city officials for a stay on a previous court ruling opening the downtown streets while an appeal of that ruling awaits a court decision.
The original ruling opening the streets was in response to a lawsuit filed by Let’s Open Northville, a group opposed to the closing of all downtown Northville streets to traffic. Kyle Konwinski, the attorney representing the group, said he was pleased with the denial of the motion from the city.
He noted the court called the city request to close the streets, a “veiled attempts to thwart the court’s judgment’.” He said that the city’s request to open the streets during the pendency of the appeal made little logical sense, particularly because “the entire purpose of the week-long trial was to determine the legality of the city’s street closures.”
The original decision ruled the closure of the downtown streets were illegal for a number of reasons, Konwinski said. This effort was the second time the city attempted to “skirt the court’s judgment,” he said and added that he is “hopeful that the city will finally abide by the court’s clear and unambiguous judgment, even though the city is clearly dissatisfied with the result.”
The hearing also dealt with the city scheduling of 27 consecutive weekends of special events which would close the streets until Nov. 1, 2026. Court documents from Let’s Open Northville objected to every weekend being considered “special” which the group alleged constituted a new version of seasonal closures -- already defeated in the June 2025 trial. Elder agreed, stating this was “the city’s attempt to maneuver” around that ruling.
While the group also opposed the current construction on one block of downtown Main Street as possibly illegal, Elder said since the city had accomplished the demolition prior to the hearing, she would not stop this phase of reconstruction. She noted that the city had not requested approval from the court for the construction and therefore had not offered reasons the construction was necessary.
The latest ruling follows Elder’s ruling that the City of Northville must pay Let’s Open Northville $5,855 plus sanctions during the pendency of the trial as a result of past improper actions.
