Showing posts with label stays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stays. Show all posts
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Playing Ping Pong With The Judge, Part 3
A quick review of the court situation up until yesterday:
When the neighbors of Mostetler Road and Deer Lake objected to a Motocross Park in their backyards, the Hayes Township Attorney, David Dreyer essentially told them, get a lawyer and sue for redress because they were not going to get it from the Township. It was David Dreyer and Hayes Township who sent the neighbors to the courtroom for redress.
The neighbors asked for redress in the form of a court injunction on Moto Mania while this was being sorted out.
Judge Mienk granted the injunction which was to expire upon the decision taken by the Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission granted the Special Use With Restrictions to the Gamble-Longenecker Property. Upon that decision, the court ordered injunction against Moto Mania Expired. After that, Doug was free to develop as he pleased on the Gamble-Longenecker Property. Until ....
Several Neighbors appealed the Special Use With Restrictions to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which, according to the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance put a stay on all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed. That included all the continued development of Moto Mania. (But Doug continued to develop Moto Mania anyway.) Moto Mania was prepared to open in June. The neighbors let the continued development go, but they objected that opening would violate the stay. The stay was reluctantly enforced by the Township.
Doug filed a petition to the judge to lift the stay. His court date fell 2 days before the June Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, Judge Mienk declined to lift the stay, deferring to the Township's own process. That trip to the courtroom was courtesy of Doug Longenecker.
The Zoning Board of Appeals could not field a quorum to decide, and the stay remained in place because there was no decision taken at that time.
The Zoning Board of Appeals met again in July. They voted and were deadlocked 2-2. So no decision was taken and because the Special Use with Restrictions was still in appeal, the stay remained in place.
Mr. Dreyer saw an opportunity to put the matter in front of the judge once again and to try to get Judge Mienk to decide the matter. The judge declined to decide the matter, handing it back to the Township for their action. The stay remained in place because the Special Use With Restrictions was still in appeal. That trip to the courtroom was courtesy of Mr. Dreyer and the Township.
In Aug, Doug violated the stay by having a Polaris sponsored event at Moto Mania. The neighbors objected to the violation of the stay, and complained to the zoning Administrator, Jim Van Wormer, who took the matter to Mr. Dreyer. Mr Dreyer was apparently confused about whether there was a stay or a court ordered injunction on the property, and what the parameters of the stay or injunction were. (The Township didn't want to enforce their ordinance and Mr. Dreyer wanted the judge to tell him specifically what they could get away with not enforcing.) So Mr. Deryer decided to file to get back on the docket to have the judge determine if the stay had been violated and what the parameters of the stay were. That court date was yesterday, once again, courtesy of Mr. Dreyer and the Township.
To say the least, the judge was not amused. He determined that Doug had indeed violated the stay by having the Polaris event. It was not a court ordered injunction; that had expired in May. It was the stay that was according to the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance, and Judge Mienk had to remind Mr. Dreyer to read the Ordinance. There was no wiggle room.
Judge Mienk pretty much made it clear that this mess belonged to the Township to decide. His volley put the ball once again in Hayes Township's court. And in doing so, made it a trip to the woodshed for Mr. Dreyer and the Township.
Here is a prediction: Mr. Dreyer's Hail Mary Pass will be to advise the Township that they need to pull the Special Use With Restrictions based on the violation of the stay. He'll be hoping that pulling the Special Use will make the neighbor's court case go away, and the corruption, of which he is most certainly aware, will not come to light. He'll be betting that Doug doesn't have the will or the money to continue with a case that is questionable at best based on Doug's actions so far.
But that's if the neighbors don't settle out of court with the Township's Insurance Company.
When the neighbors of Mostetler Road and Deer Lake objected to a Motocross Park in their backyards, the Hayes Township Attorney, David Dreyer essentially told them, get a lawyer and sue for redress because they were not going to get it from the Township. It was David Dreyer and Hayes Township who sent the neighbors to the courtroom for redress.
The neighbors asked for redress in the form of a court injunction on Moto Mania while this was being sorted out.
Judge Mienk granted the injunction which was to expire upon the decision taken by the Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission granted the Special Use With Restrictions to the Gamble-Longenecker Property. Upon that decision, the court ordered injunction against Moto Mania Expired. After that, Doug was free to develop as he pleased on the Gamble-Longenecker Property. Until ....
Several Neighbors appealed the Special Use With Restrictions to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which, according to the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance put a stay on all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed. That included all the continued development of Moto Mania. (But Doug continued to develop Moto Mania anyway.) Moto Mania was prepared to open in June. The neighbors let the continued development go, but they objected that opening would violate the stay. The stay was reluctantly enforced by the Township.
Doug filed a petition to the judge to lift the stay. His court date fell 2 days before the June Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, Judge Mienk declined to lift the stay, deferring to the Township's own process. That trip to the courtroom was courtesy of Doug Longenecker.
The Zoning Board of Appeals could not field a quorum to decide, and the stay remained in place because there was no decision taken at that time.
The Zoning Board of Appeals met again in July. They voted and were deadlocked 2-2. So no decision was taken and because the Special Use with Restrictions was still in appeal, the stay remained in place.
Mr. Dreyer saw an opportunity to put the matter in front of the judge once again and to try to get Judge Mienk to decide the matter. The judge declined to decide the matter, handing it back to the Township for their action. The stay remained in place because the Special Use With Restrictions was still in appeal. That trip to the courtroom was courtesy of Mr. Dreyer and the Township.
In Aug, Doug violated the stay by having a Polaris sponsored event at Moto Mania. The neighbors objected to the violation of the stay, and complained to the zoning Administrator, Jim Van Wormer, who took the matter to Mr. Dreyer. Mr Dreyer was apparently confused about whether there was a stay or a court ordered injunction on the property, and what the parameters of the stay or injunction were. (The Township didn't want to enforce their ordinance and Mr. Dreyer wanted the judge to tell him specifically what they could get away with not enforcing.) So Mr. Deryer decided to file to get back on the docket to have the judge determine if the stay had been violated and what the parameters of the stay were. That court date was yesterday, once again, courtesy of Mr. Dreyer and the Township.
To say the least, the judge was not amused. He determined that Doug had indeed violated the stay by having the Polaris event. It was not a court ordered injunction; that had expired in May. It was the stay that was according to the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance, and Judge Mienk had to remind Mr. Dreyer to read the Ordinance. There was no wiggle room.
Judge Mienk pretty much made it clear that this mess belonged to the Township to decide. His volley put the ball once again in Hayes Township's court. And in doing so, made it a trip to the woodshed for Mr. Dreyer and the Township.
Here is a prediction: Mr. Dreyer's Hail Mary Pass will be to advise the Township that they need to pull the Special Use With Restrictions based on the violation of the stay. He'll be hoping that pulling the Special Use will make the neighbor's court case go away, and the corruption, of which he is most certainly aware, will not come to light. He'll be betting that Doug doesn't have the will or the money to continue with a case that is questionable at best based on Doug's actions so far.
But that's if the neighbors don't settle out of court with the Township's Insurance Company.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Playing Ping Pong With The Judge, Part 2
After finding out that he could not open because of the stay on the Gamble-Longenecker property owing to the neighbors' appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Doug had his lawyer file a motion to have the judge lift the stay on the property so he could operate. From the time a motion is filed to the time it actually sees a courtroom takes a little time, and as it turned out, Doug's court date was scheduled for 12 July 2010, only 2 days before the next scheduled Zoning Board of Appeals meeting.
Since the Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting was scheduled for 14 Jul 2010, the judge decided to let the Zoning Board of Appeals handle it. The stay remained.
The four voting members of the Zoning Board of Appeals were present this time, but Lyle, who is not allowed to vote, was absent. This time, the vote went down 2 to uphold, 2 to overturn. Now they were deadlocked. And since it was still in appeal, the stay remained in place.
Sometime after that, Mr. Longenecker decided to sue Hayes Township, and Mr. Dreyer found an excuse to put the case back in front of Judge Mienk to once again ask him to decide it. This would accomplish several things. It would allow the Township to abdicate its responsibility to take a decision and risk being unpopular with either side of the issue. It would also shield them from further litigation from either side based on the decision. I also think that if the Township could successfully pass that buck to the judge, then based on the judge's decision, there might be no need for the actions of the Township to be scrutinized in a courtroom.
Back to the courtroom for Round 3. Mr. Longenecker's lawyer took the opportunity to ask the judge to lift the stay. The judge declined to lift the stay. He also declined to hear it again until the Township had exhausted all of their options for taking a decision. He told them to make sure they have a quorum and to consider the appeal. Once again the ball was back in Hayes Township's court.
On 24 Aug 2010, Judge Mienk met with all the lawyers. Apparently, this was a required meeting. From all accounts, Judge Mienk indicated to Mr. Dreyer that the Township should perhaps add members to the Zoning Board of Appeals to better obtain a quorum and a simple majority to decide matters before them. That set Mr. Dreyer, a committee of one, in motion composing amendments to Sections 1501-1503 of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance.
Meanwhile, the stay remained in place.
Mr. Longenecker had a problem. He had an upcoming Polaris WOTT training event scheduled on the Moto Mania property, but what to do about the stay? First he tried to get Jim VanWormer to lift the stay. Jim, who was very good at passing the buck, (a self-preservation move) told Mr. Longenecker that he couldn't lift the stay because of the court order. I think Jim was not sure at this point, to be honest, but passing it off as a court order absolved him of the responsibility for doing something that might tweak his Township bosses.
I don't think there was a court ordered stay so much as the judge let stand the stay that was put in place by the appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Special Use With Restrictions is, after all, still in appeal, so since the judge is inclined to let the Township business pertaining to this issue run its course before he steps in, it stands to reason that he left the stay in place as is. Apparently, that is too hard for the Township and their lawyer to wrap their heads around.
Doug's car was seen parked all day the Friday (27 Aug 2010) before the Polaris WOTT Training at a Planning Commission member's house, no doubt trying to figure out how to circumvent the system. On Sunday, 29 Aug 2010, the Polaris trucks showed up and pulled into Moto Mania. On Monday, 30 Aug 2010, the event was held. Members of the Planning Commission and the community, as well as Polaris employees, attended the event. And photos of the event were presented by the neighbors to Jim VanWormer, who then got in touch with Mr. Dreyer.
Apparently, this event has sparked Mr. Dreyer to ask for Courtroom Round 4, which does not take place until 20 Oct 2010. My understanding is that this date is for the judge to clarify for everyone the parameters of the stay.
I think there are several reasons for this. If Mr. Dreyer can put this in front of the judge again, there is a chance, however slight that the judge will decide something with regard to the Special Use With Restrictions on the Gamble-Longenecker property. Once again, if Mr. Dreyer can get the judge to decide this, then the corruption of the Board Of Trustees and the Planning Commission will not have to be dissected in the courtroom.
What the Township has is a law they don't want to enforce. I believe that they are only enforcing it because we, the neighbors are relentless in pursuing our cause and won't let them off the hook. They also want to see if there are any loopholes to exploit to avoid enforcing their own ordinance. Mr. Dreyer seems to be good at finding those. If the judge provides the loophole, he'll be all over it for his client, the Township.
Mr. Dreyer wants the judge to decide if the Polaris Sponsored event was a violation of the stay. After all, as Genine Hopkins of the Cleaver pointed out in her article about the Polaris WOTT Training several times, in case anyone missed it the first time, "no money exchanged hands." So the rationalization is that since Polaris ran their training event gratis, and Mr. Longenecker "donated" the use of the land, it was not in violation of the stay.
I would argue that it furthers the cause of Moto Mania and its Special Use as a Motor Sports Park so it does indeed violate the stay. If it doesn't, it bends the law until it screams. And it definitely skirts the spirit and intent of the law if not the letter.
The Township's elected and appointed officials have shown by their actions their willingness to ignore the laws that don't fit their agenda. Mr. Longenecker also has no qualms about skirting the law. I hope the judge does not reward this kind of behavior.
Since the Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting was scheduled for 14 Jul 2010, the judge decided to let the Zoning Board of Appeals handle it. The stay remained.
The four voting members of the Zoning Board of Appeals were present this time, but Lyle, who is not allowed to vote, was absent. This time, the vote went down 2 to uphold, 2 to overturn. Now they were deadlocked. And since it was still in appeal, the stay remained in place.
Sometime after that, Mr. Longenecker decided to sue Hayes Township, and Mr. Dreyer found an excuse to put the case back in front of Judge Mienk to once again ask him to decide it. This would accomplish several things. It would allow the Township to abdicate its responsibility to take a decision and risk being unpopular with either side of the issue. It would also shield them from further litigation from either side based on the decision. I also think that if the Township could successfully pass that buck to the judge, then based on the judge's decision, there might be no need for the actions of the Township to be scrutinized in a courtroom.
Back to the courtroom for Round 3. Mr. Longenecker's lawyer took the opportunity to ask the judge to lift the stay. The judge declined to lift the stay. He also declined to hear it again until the Township had exhausted all of their options for taking a decision. He told them to make sure they have a quorum and to consider the appeal. Once again the ball was back in Hayes Township's court.
On 24 Aug 2010, Judge Mienk met with all the lawyers. Apparently, this was a required meeting. From all accounts, Judge Mienk indicated to Mr. Dreyer that the Township should perhaps add members to the Zoning Board of Appeals to better obtain a quorum and a simple majority to decide matters before them. That set Mr. Dreyer, a committee of one, in motion composing amendments to Sections 1501-1503 of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance.
Meanwhile, the stay remained in place.
Mr. Longenecker had a problem. He had an upcoming Polaris WOTT training event scheduled on the Moto Mania property, but what to do about the stay? First he tried to get Jim VanWormer to lift the stay. Jim, who was very good at passing the buck, (a self-preservation move) told Mr. Longenecker that he couldn't lift the stay because of the court order. I think Jim was not sure at this point, to be honest, but passing it off as a court order absolved him of the responsibility for doing something that might tweak his Township bosses.
I don't think there was a court ordered stay so much as the judge let stand the stay that was put in place by the appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Special Use With Restrictions is, after all, still in appeal, so since the judge is inclined to let the Township business pertaining to this issue run its course before he steps in, it stands to reason that he left the stay in place as is. Apparently, that is too hard for the Township and their lawyer to wrap their heads around.
Doug's car was seen parked all day the Friday (27 Aug 2010) before the Polaris WOTT Training at a Planning Commission member's house, no doubt trying to figure out how to circumvent the system. On Sunday, 29 Aug 2010, the Polaris trucks showed up and pulled into Moto Mania. On Monday, 30 Aug 2010, the event was held. Members of the Planning Commission and the community, as well as Polaris employees, attended the event. And photos of the event were presented by the neighbors to Jim VanWormer, who then got in touch with Mr. Dreyer.
Apparently, this event has sparked Mr. Dreyer to ask for Courtroom Round 4, which does not take place until 20 Oct 2010. My understanding is that this date is for the judge to clarify for everyone the parameters of the stay.
I think there are several reasons for this. If Mr. Dreyer can put this in front of the judge again, there is a chance, however slight that the judge will decide something with regard to the Special Use With Restrictions on the Gamble-Longenecker property. Once again, if Mr. Dreyer can get the judge to decide this, then the corruption of the Board Of Trustees and the Planning Commission will not have to be dissected in the courtroom.
What the Township has is a law they don't want to enforce. I believe that they are only enforcing it because we, the neighbors are relentless in pursuing our cause and won't let them off the hook. They also want to see if there are any loopholes to exploit to avoid enforcing their own ordinance. Mr. Dreyer seems to be good at finding those. If the judge provides the loophole, he'll be all over it for his client, the Township.
Mr. Dreyer wants the judge to decide if the Polaris Sponsored event was a violation of the stay. After all, as Genine Hopkins of the Cleaver pointed out in her article about the Polaris WOTT Training several times, in case anyone missed it the first time, "no money exchanged hands." So the rationalization is that since Polaris ran their training event gratis, and Mr. Longenecker "donated" the use of the land, it was not in violation of the stay.
I would argue that it furthers the cause of Moto Mania and its Special Use as a Motor Sports Park so it does indeed violate the stay. If it doesn't, it bends the law until it screams. And it definitely skirts the spirit and intent of the law if not the letter.
The Township's elected and appointed officials have shown by their actions their willingness to ignore the laws that don't fit their agenda. Mr. Longenecker also has no qualms about skirting the law. I hope the judge does not reward this kind of behavior.
Playing Ping Pong With the Judge, Part 1
Toward the beginning of the Moto Mania fiasco on the part of the Hayes Township Planning Commission, at the point where the township's attorney, David Dreyer got involved, he wrote a 10 page opinion letter which his associate, Ms. Hovey handed out to those who attended the Hayes Township Board Of Trustees meeting on 16 march 2010. In his absence, she ran the meeting.
It is worth mentioning that just prior to that meeting, Mr. Dreyer's other associate, Todd Diederich resigned from the Hayes Township Planning Commission. (Because that wasn't a conflict of interest even before it hit the fan.) Since nobody has brought it up, this seems to be the place to bring up all the elephants in the room that no one else wants to or can talk about. How long was a member of the Township's Planning Commission also a member of the law firm that represents the township? And what genius thought that was a good idea?
But I digress... this article is really about what brings us to court in the first place. The digression is just another piece of fuel for the fire.
David Dreyer's opinion letter. In it, he laid out the infractions the Planning Commission and the Board of Trustees were admitting to, and what they were and were not going to do about it. He laid out a plan that appears to placate both Doug Longenecker (by giving him a second chance to get it right) and the Mostetler Road/Deer Lake neighbors (by causing the Township to retrace their steps and presumably dot their i's and cross their t's this time.) It was also the path of least litigation for his client, Hayes Township. He thought.
In appearing to placate both parties, neither one seemed likely to go to court in the short run. One of the things he opined in the last paragraph of his paper was, "During all these proceedings, Hayes Township does not have the authority to 'red tag' or otherwise stop the activities on the property. Only the Clare County Circuit Court has the power to issue injunctions or other court orders pertaining to this matter. It is within the rights of the property owner making the application or for any other interested party to file for relief with the Clare County Circuit Court."
In other words, Hayes Township has no authority to enforce its own laws and make Doug Longenecker stop working on Michigan Moto Mania while the "do over" is in progress, even though everything else must begin again at square one. Anyone who wants any redress "has the right" to file for said redress with the Clare County Circuit Court because the Township has no authority to grant it, (even though they created the mess in the first place.)
The bottom line is, the Township boards never wanted to stop this from happening, and their lawyer gave them the "out" to not make it stop while the improprieties were being addressed. They were not inclined, and Mr. Dreyer found them a way to not do it. I think that both the Township Boards and their legal representation did not expect a David to fight this Goliath. I think maybe they believed that Doug Longenecker was more likely to seek redress in court if they made him stop developing while this was being decided than the neighbors if they didn't make him stop developing. They thought the neighbors would just gripe and complain, but in the end, they would just suck it up "for the good of the Township." After all, most of them don't even live in Hayes Township, even though they pay taxes in Hayes Township (higher taxes than the residents pay) and they can't vote anyway, so it just stinks to be them. And those who do live in Hayes Township, - there aren't very many of them. That seems to be the prevailing line of thinking among many Moto Mania fans too.
Turns out there is a David among the neighbors, and David's last name is Collins. And there are more Davids than anyone thought there would be. So instead of just letting the Township Planning Commission and Board of Trustees get away with it, the Collinses, with the support of their neighbors sought the only redress available to them in the Clare County Circuit Court. (Of course at the behest of Mr. Dreyer.)
That was Round 1. At the first court date, Judge Mienk granted a temporary injunction against Moto Mania. As I understand it, Doug Longenecker was told that he could not run Moto Mania as a business, meaning no money could change hands, but he could use the property for personal riding, and he could continue to develop at his own risk. The temporary injunction would expire upon the decision to be taken by the Planning Commission in the "do over" The ball was back in the Township's court for action.
After a Public Hearing on 12 May 2010, and a vote on 17 May 2010, the Planning Commission decided unanimously to grant the Special Use With Restrictions not to Doug Longenecker, but to the Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler Road, (which would seem to make the Special Use permanent, rather than temporary and amounts to a Rezone.) Why grant it to the property instead of the individual who requested it? Was this in case the property reverts back to Ken Gamble so Ken Gamble can then resell it with the Special Use already procured? These restrictions seriously hinder Doug Longenecker's ability to grow as a business. Did the Planning Commission think the restrictions would placate the neighbors? If so, they were mistaken.
There is still some confusion as to whose job it is to police Moto Mania and violations of the restrictions. One gets the feeling that The Planning Commission, the Board of Trustees and the local constabulary are not inclined to enforce violations. And Lyle got downright testy at the 16 Jun 2010 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting because he was among the members of the Planning Commission called when infractions occurred. Kind of reminds me of a Dad who lays down the Law at home and then leaves Mom to enforce the rules, while Dad is nowhere to be found. The Planning Commission established the rules, but they don't want any part of enforcing them and are not very clear on whose job it is.
So, again, as I understand it, once the Planning Commission took their decision and it was adopted by the Board of Trustees, the temporary injunction was lifted, and Doug was free to run Moto Mania as a business.
Of course, within the required window, the neighbors appealed the decision of the Planning Commission to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Now here is where it seems to get tricky to the Township Board of Trustees, Jim VanWormer (who was the Zoning Administrator at the time, but has since resigned), and Mr. Dreyer.
According to the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance, Section 1508 on page 72: "An appeal taken to the Board shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action being appealed, unless the Zoning Administrator certifies to the Board of Appeals after notice of appeal that a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case, proceedings may not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may, on due cause shown, be granted by the Board of Appeals or by Circuit Court on application, after notice to the Zoning Administrator."
This seems pretty straightforward to me. As I read and understand the above section of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance, as soon as the Planning Commission's decision to grant the Special Use with Restrictions to the Gamble-Longenecker property was appealed, that appeal put a stay on the Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler Road. That stay was supposed to be on "all proceedings in furtherance of the action being appealed." Nevertheless, the building of tracks continued, and other violations of the stay have occurred. The Township Board of Trustees and Zoning Administrator, and their lawyer all seem to have a difficult time understanding that section of the Zoning Ordinance as I will illustrate.
Because of the appeal, a Zoning Board of Appeals was scheduled for 16 Jun 2010. It was a public Hearing and although there was no quorum, the meeting was held anyway and then a vote was taken. The vote was 2 for upholding the Special Use With Restrictions, and 1 to overturn the Special Use With Restriction on the Gamble-Longenecker property. Because of a lack of quorum, another meeting was to be scheduled.
Meanwhile, Michigan Moto Mania was preparing to open on 25 Jun 2010. I have no doubt they would have been allowed to open, too, if I had not called and spoken to Jim VanWormer. I asked him when he lifted the stay on the Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler Road. He told me he hadn't and that he had no grounds. I asked him why then, was Michigan Moto Mania scheduling their Grand Opening on the 25th of Jun 2010? He didn't know, but he would call Mr. Dreyer who turned out to be conveniently out of town until several days after the scheduled opening.
All of this begs several questions. It was obvious that Mr. VanWormer was not comfortable performing his duties as the Zoning Administrator before talking to whomever was pulling his strings. In this case, I think that was David Dreyer. There is a problem with a system where a Zoning Administrator is hired by the people who are supposed to be accountable to him. He has to "go along to get along" and since Mr. VanWormer was hired by the Township Board of Trustees, and the Board seems to be in favor of the Moto Mania business, he cannot always be honest in the carrying out of his duties as the Zoning Administrator if his duties conflict with the agenda of the people who have the power to hire and fire him. Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?
Mr. VanWormer must have miraculously reached Mr. Dreyer, because Michigan Moto Mania did not open as planned on 25 Jun 2010.
Which brings me to Courtroom Round 2.
To be continued...
It is worth mentioning that just prior to that meeting, Mr. Dreyer's other associate, Todd Diederich resigned from the Hayes Township Planning Commission. (Because that wasn't a conflict of interest even before it hit the fan.) Since nobody has brought it up, this seems to be the place to bring up all the elephants in the room that no one else wants to or can talk about. How long was a member of the Township's Planning Commission also a member of the law firm that represents the township? And what genius thought that was a good idea?
But I digress... this article is really about what brings us to court in the first place. The digression is just another piece of fuel for the fire.
David Dreyer's opinion letter. In it, he laid out the infractions the Planning Commission and the Board of Trustees were admitting to, and what they were and were not going to do about it. He laid out a plan that appears to placate both Doug Longenecker (by giving him a second chance to get it right) and the Mostetler Road/Deer Lake neighbors (by causing the Township to retrace their steps and presumably dot their i's and cross their t's this time.) It was also the path of least litigation for his client, Hayes Township. He thought.
In appearing to placate both parties, neither one seemed likely to go to court in the short run. One of the things he opined in the last paragraph of his paper was, "During all these proceedings, Hayes Township does not have the authority to 'red tag' or otherwise stop the activities on the property. Only the Clare County Circuit Court has the power to issue injunctions or other court orders pertaining to this matter. It is within the rights of the property owner making the application or for any other interested party to file for relief with the Clare County Circuit Court."
In other words, Hayes Township has no authority to enforce its own laws and make Doug Longenecker stop working on Michigan Moto Mania while the "do over" is in progress, even though everything else must begin again at square one. Anyone who wants any redress "has the right" to file for said redress with the Clare County Circuit Court because the Township has no authority to grant it, (even though they created the mess in the first place.)
The bottom line is, the Township boards never wanted to stop this from happening, and their lawyer gave them the "out" to not make it stop while the improprieties were being addressed. They were not inclined, and Mr. Dreyer found them a way to not do it. I think that both the Township Boards and their legal representation did not expect a David to fight this Goliath. I think maybe they believed that Doug Longenecker was more likely to seek redress in court if they made him stop developing while this was being decided than the neighbors if they didn't make him stop developing. They thought the neighbors would just gripe and complain, but in the end, they would just suck it up "for the good of the Township." After all, most of them don't even live in Hayes Township, even though they pay taxes in Hayes Township (higher taxes than the residents pay) and they can't vote anyway, so it just stinks to be them. And those who do live in Hayes Township, - there aren't very many of them. That seems to be the prevailing line of thinking among many Moto Mania fans too.
Turns out there is a David among the neighbors, and David's last name is Collins. And there are more Davids than anyone thought there would be. So instead of just letting the Township Planning Commission and Board of Trustees get away with it, the Collinses, with the support of their neighbors sought the only redress available to them in the Clare County Circuit Court. (Of course at the behest of Mr. Dreyer.)
That was Round 1. At the first court date, Judge Mienk granted a temporary injunction against Moto Mania. As I understand it, Doug Longenecker was told that he could not run Moto Mania as a business, meaning no money could change hands, but he could use the property for personal riding, and he could continue to develop at his own risk. The temporary injunction would expire upon the decision to be taken by the Planning Commission in the "do over" The ball was back in the Township's court for action.
After a Public Hearing on 12 May 2010, and a vote on 17 May 2010, the Planning Commission decided unanimously to grant the Special Use With Restrictions not to Doug Longenecker, but to the Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler Road, (which would seem to make the Special Use permanent, rather than temporary and amounts to a Rezone.) Why grant it to the property instead of the individual who requested it? Was this in case the property reverts back to Ken Gamble so Ken Gamble can then resell it with the Special Use already procured? These restrictions seriously hinder Doug Longenecker's ability to grow as a business. Did the Planning Commission think the restrictions would placate the neighbors? If so, they were mistaken.
There is still some confusion as to whose job it is to police Moto Mania and violations of the restrictions. One gets the feeling that The Planning Commission, the Board of Trustees and the local constabulary are not inclined to enforce violations. And Lyle got downright testy at the 16 Jun 2010 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting because he was among the members of the Planning Commission called when infractions occurred. Kind of reminds me of a Dad who lays down the Law at home and then leaves Mom to enforce the rules, while Dad is nowhere to be found. The Planning Commission established the rules, but they don't want any part of enforcing them and are not very clear on whose job it is.
So, again, as I understand it, once the Planning Commission took their decision and it was adopted by the Board of Trustees, the temporary injunction was lifted, and Doug was free to run Moto Mania as a business.
Of course, within the required window, the neighbors appealed the decision of the Planning Commission to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Now here is where it seems to get tricky to the Township Board of Trustees, Jim VanWormer (who was the Zoning Administrator at the time, but has since resigned), and Mr. Dreyer.
According to the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance, Section 1508 on page 72: "An appeal taken to the Board shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action being appealed, unless the Zoning Administrator certifies to the Board of Appeals after notice of appeal that a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case, proceedings may not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may, on due cause shown, be granted by the Board of Appeals or by Circuit Court on application, after notice to the Zoning Administrator."
This seems pretty straightforward to me. As I read and understand the above section of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance, as soon as the Planning Commission's decision to grant the Special Use with Restrictions to the Gamble-Longenecker property was appealed, that appeal put a stay on the Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler Road. That stay was supposed to be on "all proceedings in furtherance of the action being appealed." Nevertheless, the building of tracks continued, and other violations of the stay have occurred. The Township Board of Trustees and Zoning Administrator, and their lawyer all seem to have a difficult time understanding that section of the Zoning Ordinance as I will illustrate.
Because of the appeal, a Zoning Board of Appeals was scheduled for 16 Jun 2010. It was a public Hearing and although there was no quorum, the meeting was held anyway and then a vote was taken. The vote was 2 for upholding the Special Use With Restrictions, and 1 to overturn the Special Use With Restriction on the Gamble-Longenecker property. Because of a lack of quorum, another meeting was to be scheduled.
Meanwhile, Michigan Moto Mania was preparing to open on 25 Jun 2010. I have no doubt they would have been allowed to open, too, if I had not called and spoken to Jim VanWormer. I asked him when he lifted the stay on the Gamble-Longenecker property on Mostetler Road. He told me he hadn't and that he had no grounds. I asked him why then, was Michigan Moto Mania scheduling their Grand Opening on the 25th of Jun 2010? He didn't know, but he would call Mr. Dreyer who turned out to be conveniently out of town until several days after the scheduled opening.
All of this begs several questions. It was obvious that Mr. VanWormer was not comfortable performing his duties as the Zoning Administrator before talking to whomever was pulling his strings. In this case, I think that was David Dreyer. There is a problem with a system where a Zoning Administrator is hired by the people who are supposed to be accountable to him. He has to "go along to get along" and since Mr. VanWormer was hired by the Township Board of Trustees, and the Board seems to be in favor of the Moto Mania business, he cannot always be honest in the carrying out of his duties as the Zoning Administrator if his duties conflict with the agenda of the people who have the power to hire and fire him. Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?
Mr. VanWormer must have miraculously reached Mr. Dreyer, because Michigan Moto Mania did not open as planned on 25 Jun 2010.
Which brings me to Courtroom Round 2.
To be continued...
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