Cambridge Real Estate and Fakhoury Ventures continue to push for valet parking in downtown West Dearborn but whether it will ever get approval from City Council is another matter.

In a second letter to business owners in West Dearborn, Yasir Kaskorkis, who is leading the effort, says he has received “overwhelming responses from many of you regarding the complimentary valet parking for the Downtown District.”

Kaskorkis explained the valet parking program to merchants in this note below:

“To briefly explain the program, our proposal is to have complimentary valet parking from 5 p.m. – 2 a.m. Thursday – Saturday.

There will be 4 drop off sites located at each end of the district near parking structures/lots that are able to accommodate between 20-40 spaces per site. We are determining the number of parking spaces needed for each drop-off site and hopefully with the approval of City Council, assign a flat rate fee per parking space for a 90 day period.

Currently, it is unclear whether the DDA will assist in the funding of this program. There are many businesses in the district who have formally expressed interest. The businesses are:

Bistro 222;  Crave Lounge; Ciao’s Restaurant; Double Olive; La Cigar; Pizza Papalis; The Post.

If you are interested in participating in this program, please feel free to contact me via email or cell. I will contact Republic and inform them to install the validation system at your site. Again, our goal is to enhance downtown West Dearborn to make it a viable retail destination. We look forward to a constructive working relationship with all of the parties involved.”

Kaskorkis  also provided a four page document to each business owner in downtown West Dearborn about how the valet parking would work. Below are some of those details from the document:

Downtown District Valet Parking Program

The West Dearborn Businesses have plans to introduce a 90 day pilot program for Complimentary Valet Parking in the Downtown District. The complimentary valet will be scheduled three days per week with the hopes of having the program working 7 days per week. The days of the week will be Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, between the hours of 5 p.m.to 2 a.m. There will be 4 drop off sites in the district, all located at each end of the district near parking structures/lots that are able to accommodate the volume and traffic for the program. Our goal is to enhance downtown West Dearborn to make it a viable retail destination.

Cost of the Valet Parking

The cost of the valet will be absorbed by the valet parking company for the first 90 days. The cost for the parking spots will be allocated to all businesses involved. The rate provided for each spot will be multiplied by the number of spaces devoted for valet and divided by the number of participating business owners. The owners will be responsible for paying the fees to republic at the end of the every month. **The businesses are requesting, for the 90 day trial, a cost of $1.00 per day per space designated for complimentary valet parking. The $1.00 rate for the designated spots must be paid regardless, thus guaranteeing income for those specific days over 90 days. It is our hope the DDA could donate funding to mitigate the cost of the business owners.

Traffic Flow

There will be 4 Drop-off sites in the District. At each drop-off site, there will be three signs placed at different parts of the property to reduce the congestion along Michigan Avenue. Placed on the North and South side of Michigan Avenue (2 between Oakwood & Monroe, 2 between Tenny and Military) will be signs directing traffic towards the valet drop-off sites.

The three men who were caught trying to break into a Dearborn home last week were each arraigned Wednesday with one count of first degree home invasion.

See our earlier story HERE.

The three Detroit men, Lamont Williams, 24; Tyrone Beasley, 27 and David Michael McGee, 26 have a preliminary hearing set for Dec. 16, 2011 at the 19th District Court in Dearborn.

First degree home invasion is a felony that is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of not more than $5,000.

Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad said he “would like to thank the Republic Waste employee whose keen observation and immediate call to the police led to the arrest of the suspects.”