News from Elmwood

Court rules again in favor of ECSG

Township approval of Lincoln Meadows development was unlawful

LELAND, Mich. (March 14, 2002) - More than a year after Elmwood Township residents first challenged a controversial development that would have transformed rolling farmland into a sprawling subdivision, Leelanau County Circuit Court ruled on Wednesday that recent township approval of the Lincoln Meadows site condominium project was "null and void.

Judge Philip Rodgers ruled in favor of Elmwood Citizens for Sensible Growth, determining that the township's September 2001 approval of the development ran counter to express provisions of the Elmwood Township Zoning Ordinance. The township also failed to meet the court's previous order for further review of the project in context of specific zoning regulations, the judge ruled. Specifically, the citizens' group argued that the project did not meet the requirements of the ordinance's Section XIIIA, which specifies that site condominium projects such as Lincoln Meadows must respect the underlying zoning densities of the areas in which they are located.

In the group's first suit, filed in January 2001 and decided in June, Judge Rodgers ruled that the Township's initial approval of the project was invalid, based on the "appearance of impropriety" and a conflict of interest involving a township official. John Gallagher, an Elmwood Township Planning Commission member and a member of the Township Board of Trustees, had engaged in a land transaction with the developer of Lincoln Meadows while the project was under consideration by the planning commission.

The project, conceived by the Stewart Investment Group of Traverse City, involved plans for 55 homes to be built on 138 acres in the township's southwestern agricultural district. The proposed development is 400 percent larger than the one-unit-per-ten-acre density allowed by right, and three times larger than the largest existing development in the agricultural district. The Lincoln Meadows plan is uncannily similar to a depiction of the kind of conventional subdivision specifically discouraged by the township's own master plan.

"We believe that most of the people in Elmwood do not want their community covered in sprawling subdivisions," said Chris Bzdok, attorney for ECSG. "If the township amends the ordinance to allow this kind of sprawl, there will be the opportunity to put that proposition to a vote."

Such a vote would be a rare opportunity for residents to directly decide the future of land use in their community, said Erik Saxon, a former Elmwood planning commission member. "If the township board wants to keep thwarting the will of the people, the future of this landscape may need to be decided at the polls. Everyone in the state who cares about open space and sprawl should watch to see what happens," Saxon said.

"Elmwood Citizens for Sensible Growth deserve a lot of credit for challenging the township's decision to approve Lincoln Meadows," said Keith Schneider, program director for the Michigan Land Use Institute, a policy organization based in Beulah. "Township residents decided to conserve their farmland, forests, and rural quality of life by approving an exceptional master plan and land use rules that lead to achieving all three goals. For inexplicable reasons, the township board decided to violate the will of their own residents. Elmwood Citzens for Sensible Growth decided not to let that decision stand. The principle of citizens deciding their future has been preserved."

"It's a vindication of the rule of law," Saxon added. "The court ordered the township to conform to its own laws, which is no more than we have ever asked. It's outrageous that citizens have to go to the courts at great expense to get their own township government to obey its own ordinance."

Others also praised the decision. "The court has reaffirmed that the township board cannot change the rules at will, and, as sometimes it appears, for its members' own benefit," said Steve Van Zoeren, a near neighbor of the proposed project and ECSG member. "They must abide by the law like anyone else."

The Circuit Court ruling:

... Found that the Elmwood Township's approval of the Lincoln Meadows development was "not authorized by law."

... Rendered that approval "null and void."

... Issued a permanent injunction prohibiting any further progress on the Lincoln Meadows development.

... Required the Township to either reconsider the project in the context of clustered housing provisions of Article XIIIA of the zoning ordinance, or to officially amend its zoning ordinance.

... Awarded litigation costs to ECSG.

"This is a victory for the people of Elmwood Township," said James Ganter, former member of the township's planning commission for nine years. "It demonstrates that a small group of insiders will not succeed in hijacking the township government for its own purposes. We're thankful for the care and effort Judge Rodgers put into the case so this would not happen."

Read the complete text of the ruling