Dearborn Hills residents challenge association over exclusion, lawsuits and alleged discrimination

A growing number of property owners in Dearborn Hills, one of Dearborn's most established neighborhoods, are expressing frustration with what they describe as the Dearborn Hills Civic Association's "hostile" and "exclusionary" policies, amid lawsuits against homeowners and accusations of anti-Arab racism that association officials deny, The Arab American News reported.

The association counts 138 members paying $25 annual dues, its treasurer said, while its deed restrictions bind all 1,260 homes in the neighborhood, member or not. The association says the restrictions "run with the land," that residents voted in 1999 to extend them through 2049, and that enforcement is "necessary to preserve Dearborn Hills' historic character." Two volunteers review exterior projects, a process it says takes up to 30 days.

Tensions spilled into public view on Tuesday, October 6, at the association's 101st annual meeting in the Cherry Hill United Presbyterian Church offices. Street signs advertised an "Annual Meeting" without the words "members only," but nonmembers were barred from entering, prompting a police response. "Why should I have to pay $25 to hear what is happening in my neighborhood?" asked Joe Corso, a 33-year resident who left before officers arrived.

Some Arab American owners describe discriminatory treatment tied to their ethnicity, while the objectors also include white property owners, who make up the majority in the neighborhood bordering the Dearborn Hills Golf Course. Like other parts of west Dearborn, the neighborhood has seen steady growth in its Arab population in recent years. Some homeowners say disputes with the association over property alterations quickly escalated into litigation.