NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A man in Northfield Township is being ordered to scrap or sell his collection of cars, and the township is threatening legal trouble.
Ron Dauzet, 74, has a collection of nearly 200 cars on his property, and they're not all classic collectibles. Many of the cars need work, but he loves old cars.
"That's what their idea is, that they're all junk," Dauzet said. "'You're running a junk yard over there.' That's what they told me. 'You're running a junk yard.' I said, 'I don't run a junk yard. There's no cars that are disassembled here. I don't sell any parts. I buy the car to restore it.'"
Northfield Township officials told Dauzet he has to scrap or sell the cars at a rate of 20 per month or they're coming after him.
"(They told me), 'You've got to get rid of these cars,'" Dauzet said. "I said, 'Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?' I said, 'I'm not Superman. I can't lift them up and fly them away.'"
It's unclear who was bothered by the collection of cars. The yard is in an isolated area, and only Dauzet can see the cars.
"Unless you came in the driveway and looked, you aren't going to see anything," Dauzet said. "I'm on a hill. It's the top of a hill here."
Dauzet said they won't tell him who voiced the complaint.
The township manager said Tuesday that he can't comment because of the ongoing legal matter. It's a very emotional matter for Dauzet.
"All I was asking for was enough time to do it," Dauzet said. "Give me a reasonable amount of time. It's 15 years collection, and I'm supposed to get rid of it in six months. You can do something for years and years and years and years, and then all of a sudden, 'You can't do that anymore.' I said, 'Why? What the hell am I hurting? Who am I hurting?'"
Dauzet said he will comply with the order and sell all the vehicles as fast as he can.
The township doesn't want unregistered or abandoned cars parked in driveways or on front lawns, but Dauzet said he's in the wilderness, has no neighbors to the right and left, and owns the vacant property from across the road.
You can watch Steve Garagiola's full story in the video posted above.