For over 45 years Jane and I have travelled to the Leelanau Peninsula for the natural beauty of the landscape and have found countless numbers of natural vistas of lakes, streams, and moraines at minimal cost if any. Even after all these years of camping, hiking, snow shoeing, picnicking and kayaking we have never felt deprived of something to do, in the natural environment. To change courses, if properties are zoned for a certain usage, doesn’t the zoning board have a responsibility to the majority of owners who pay taxes to fund their positions and not those of personal interests? The local community has spoken overwhelmingly to deny change to the zoning. The above comments by the lawyer, Richard Joseph, should resonate in everyone’s ears. If you set a precedence in rezoning this property, it’s like putting a crack in the dam. It’s only a matter of time that the dam comes crashing down. I live in a downstate community, Clarkston, that fought a battle similar to this over 20 years ago. A major aggregate developer had his eye on a prime peace of property on Sashabaw Rd. just north of the DTE music theatre and 2 miles from my home. Their proposal was to remove countless tons of aggregate from the earth adjacent to the headwaters of the Clinton River and a county Park. At the time we had a strong lawyer on the township planning board who took charge to not let this devastation come to our community as it had done so in a couple other neighboring ones. Through his legal tenacity, funds were secured from the local and federal government to secure the property for a township park and subdivision development. The subdivision is a well conceived community and a welcome substitution to the alternative. The proposal by several individuals noted about to have the property preserved through The Leelanau Conservancy has a lot of wisdom and should be pursued at all costs. I’d also recommend that legal support be pursued by The Friends and Neighbors of Kasson Township. Perhaps Richard Joseph would like to be the bull dog for this challenge.
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