By Alan Campbell
Of The Enterprise staff
from the Leelanau Enterprise June 5 2008 Section 2: page 1
When Wayne Tyge started putting together a business plan to build and sell condominiums along the Lake Leelanau Narrows, Leelanau County was still mired in a 25-year question of where to expand its county courthouse. An open house for the courthouse was held last month, while the footings for Provemont Village have yet to be dug. Tyge has spent nearly five years and countless sleepless nights trying to get Provement Village under way, with no end in sight. He and the Lake Leelanau Lake Association (LLLA) are continuing their administrative and legal battle over if and how many boat slips can be built in the Narrows . Tyge is owner of the Narrows Land Company, which is seeking approval for the Provemont Village project.
For Lake Association President Hugh Farber, the natural resources in the Lake Leelanau Narrows is worth protecting – no matter how extended the fight. “It’s been a long time,” said Farber, when reflecting on the history of what is becoming an epic struggle over the shoreline of the Narrows . “Our original feeling was that part of the Narrows from the (M-204) bridge on up was too fragile for boat docking. We still believe that.”
Costs have been brutal on both sides. Farber said the LLLA legal bill exceeds $100,000. Its latest action was to file a lawsuit in 13th Circuit Court seeking to overturn a state Department of Environmental Quality decision to issue a permit allowing up to 14 new boat slips in the Narrows . LLLA previously lobbied for the Leland Township Planning Commission to remove boat slips from Tyge’s site plan. In the end, the township approved eight slips; an old boathouse on the property could hold 2-3 more. Tyge originally sought permission to build 22 slips — one for each of the units he hopes to sell.
Although support among LLLA’s membership appears strong — a survey this spring showed about 90 percent of some 200 respondents favored LLLA’s policies — dues have more than doubled to $45 per year to help pay legal expenses. “There has not been a lot of people who have come out in support of what (Provement Village) wants to do as proven by our surveys,” said Farber.
Tyge argues that he does have support, and that success of the type of development he plans would help turn around what has been a disastrous year for construction. “I think once we start doing something, we’ll have an uptick in Leelanau County … We do need a really good, solid project so people will have confidence with us in Leelanau County ,” he said.
However, don’t expect condos to begin soon on the 5.69-acre parcel Tyge has an option to buy from the Bonek Family Trust. Although Tyge continues to seek purchasers — the project is listed by Jeanne Merica of Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors — he’s yet to line up a taker. “There was a lot of interest when I first started,” said Tyge. He said he understands reluctance to sign into a project during a downtick in housing values and the Michigan economy.
Also holding him back is the battle that has moved into Circuit Court over construction of boat slips in the Narrows , which remains a marquee selling point for his project. A brochure lists prices from $239,000 up to $549,000 per unit. Eight residential units are shown directly facing the narrows, with eight “private docking” boat slips out their doors. It’s no coincidence that they are the highest-priced units. The brochure also offers $10,000 and $5,000 “pre-construction” discounts, with the phrase “if reservation agreement is signed by June 15, 2007” darkened out but still discernible. The discount has apparently been extended indefinitely.
“I haven’t got anybody signed up. Who’s going to put out 10 cents? They would have to be nuts to do that. The only nut out there is me. I’m the crazy one,” he said. Tyge’s deprecating humor helps him get by tough times experienced by all builders. He estimates that construction is off by 25 percent in Leelanau County — making survival difficult, even for someone who’s been in the business for 40 years.
Still, he believes the project he has planned for the Narrows will succeed, if given a chance. He talks of environmental friendly aspects of Provemont Village such as planting lily pads in retention ponds and using all natural landscaping as though he were the one taking rather than defending alleged violations of the state Environmental Protection Act to court. Of his struggle with the LLLA, he says, “They’re using their riparian rights. I can’t use my riparian rights.”
TJ Andrews, who has represented the Lake Association in appeals to the DEQ and the latest Circuit Court action, said those rights should be limited in the Narrows because of the impact a row of boat slips will have on other users and the bottomlands.
The LLLA has consistently not opposed the Narrows Land Development’s plans to build 22 condo units along the Narrows , she said. But the waterway connecting north and south arms of Lake Leelanau is “too narrow, too congested, too shallow and too valuable of a resource” for Tyge’s intended use, Andrews said.
In a schedule laid out by Circuit Judge Philip E. Rodgers Jr., the LLLA’s attempt to overturn the DEQ permit for failing to properly follow its administrative guidelines will be heard first, and possibly decided in August. Claims filed by the LLLA challenging the permit because it fails to adhere to Michigan riparian right laws, the public trust doctrine and the state Environmental Protection Act would be heard next.
“The end is still months, if not longer, away,” said Andrews. Is a compromise possible? “Nobody has ever asked us if there is a number we can live with, but 14 is too much,” she said.
Tyge did not appear ready to compromise. Tyge said he looks forward to having Rodgers review the case, at least partly because he feels the DEQ did its job in issuing dock permits. Tyge originally planned to build a canal onto wetlands for 22 slips, was turned down, then negotiated with the DEQ for permission to build 14 slips. The DEQ staff decision was upheld by administrative law judge Dennis Mack and DEQ director Steven Chester. “In a lot of regards, I’m as stubborn as (President George W.) Bush. I’ve got all the confidence in myself; it’s the stuff out of my control,” said Tyge. “When we build, it’s going to be a great project.”