Dearborn Allowed to Bar Outsiders at 35 Parks, Not 2 Others

DETROIT —  A judge today struck down an ordinance barring non-residents from two parks in Dearborn, but upheld the ordinance at 35 other parks in the Detroit suburb.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Marvin Stempien, ruling on issues of state law, said the Dearborn ordinance was illegal in the case of two parks developed with state funds because the law stipulates that they be open to the public.

Dearborn, on Detroit’s southwest border, is home to Ford Motor Co. and a mix of mainly European and Arab ethnic groups, with fewer than 100 black residents. Detroit’s population of 1.2 million is 63% black.

Dearborn voters approved the ordinance banning non-residents from 37 of the city’s 40 parks last fall. The three parks not covered by the ordinance are in or near the downtown, away from residential areas.