Detroit residents at an emergency meeting Monday night loudly pushed back on council member Renata Miller’s request to the city’s building and safety department to review the liquor licenses of bars on Kercherval.
Residents feel like Miller is targeting small businesses owned by newer residents as Mayor Mary Sheffield pledged to make it easier for small businesses to open and operate during her successful campaign for mayor last year.
At the meeting, Miller said part of the frustration is that the “demographics of the area” are changing, suggesting new whiter and more affluent residents are changing the environment of the West Village and Indian Village neighborhoods.
She said on Monday the request isn’t targeting the businesses, despite members of her staff at the packed Monday meeting raising concerns whether the businesses were too close to a school and recreation center.
“My request for this review was not an attack on the small businesses or any entity,” Miller told a crowd at the Adam Butzel Center on Monday. “I have a responsibility as a public servant to help create conditions in which our communities and businesses can thrive together.”
Miller said she’s considering how business activity affects interactions between schools, parks and rec centers. Before she could finish her explanation for asking the city’s building department to review whether businesses are within regulations, members of the audience shouted over her, asking why she wasn’t focused on liquor stores.
“My responsibility includes considering the safety of children,” Miller said.
Teresa Davis Jones and Toiya Watts of the Charlevoix Villages Association, who stood behind Miller before she walked out of the meeting, also questioned the legitimacy of the businesses along Kerchavel Avenue.
“There are already 3, 4, 5 bars in this area. We don’t need another one,” Davis-Jones said. “The state must deny any new applications for an alcohol retail license… if the proposed location is within 500 ft of a school building or church,” Davis-Jones said. “The liquor store that is proposed over here, which is bar 9, is within proximity of 500 ft of the school.
The Islandview Association and the Charlevoix Villages Association hosted the emergency meeting.
Miller’s allies echoing concerns about the businesses near the Marcus Garvey Academy and the Butzel Family Center also brought up the changing demographics of the area, expressing frustration seeing new members of the neighborhood repair homes or start businesses.
The audience at the meeting booed Miller as she left the recreation center, while allies of Miller attempted to shout over the jeers, calling the crowd, “rude and disrespectful.”
Miller couldn’t be reached for comment following the meeting Monday.
Kar Green and Lea Hunt, co-owners of Two Birds, the neighborhood bar on Kercheval, told WXYZ they haven’t heard of safety concerns as a result of business activity in the corridor.
“We’ve been in business now going on six years we’ve never had an issue in the past, we’ve stayed up on our compliance and our approvals,” Green said. “This is the first time we’ve heard anything like this and it did come out of left field.”
The newly elected council member defeated state Rep.-elect Willie Burton in the November 2025 municipal election. Miller faced opposition from residents in Indian Village during her campaign. Opponents spent thousands sending mailers rehashing her domestic violence conviction and unpaid property taxes.
Miller’s campaign was endorsed by City Council members Scott Benson and Mary Waters, the UAW Region 1 and 1A, AFSCME Michigan Council 25, The Black Slate and The Original Eastside Slate.
Residents plan to voice their concerns at a planning and commission board meeting set for Friday at 10am.