Unexpectedly, a Michigan court has ordered the removal of hundreds of unsold Tesla cars that had been sitting in a suburban Detroit parking lot for months. Judge Marla Parker of the 47th District Court decided on June 4 that the owner of Farmington Hills’ Hunter’s Square shopping center must take the cars out by June 25. The cars had been parked against city ordinances that forbid keeping automobiles in specific locations.
More than 200 Teslas were kept in the parking lot at the height of the crisis, with no indication of when they would be sold or relocated. Gary Mekjian, the city manager of Farmington Hills, said the cars were cleared from the area by June 19. Although it’s unclear what happened to the cars, it’s thought that they were either relocated or taken to Tesla’s service center nearby.
The problem started in March after a complaint was made about about 20 brand-new Teslas showing up in the parking lot. Despite being informed of the infraction, the shopping center’s property manager maintained that Tesla was authorized to store cars on the lot. The supervisor of the city’s zoning division, however, could find no proof to back up that assertion.
Mekjian stressed that in order to protect the integrity of residential neighborhoods and commercial districts, the city is dedicated to upholding community standards and enforcing ordinances. He explained that the rules were put in place to protect the community’s long-term prosperity and to keep the parking lot from turning into a place to store unsold cars.
This unique circumstance demonstrates the intricacies of zoning regulations and property management, as well as the expansion of Tesla’s footprint in the Detroit region. It also calls into question how the business manages unsold inventory and the difficulties of overseeing its fleet of vehicles in several locations.
