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By now, you’ve probably heard about the construction project taking place next door to me, or read my reports on the Gazette about Township meetings and variance approvals. I originally wrote about it here, when Peninsula Township’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) granted a wetland variance for the project in mid-October.
Last week, the Township, through their legal team, sent a cease and desist letter to the property owners, halting construction until the Township can review the project to see if there are any compliance issues. I wrote about that here, noting in that story that the property is directly to the south of me on Bluff Road.
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An emergency ZBA meeting was scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. As noted in the agenda, discussion will take place on variance request 927 regarding compliance with approvals, including:
- History/Status Presentation by Township Staff
- Applicant Presentation
- Discussion/Deliberation/Decision by Zoning Board of Appeals
- Next Steps
Yesterday, I received my own cease and desist letter from Marc McKellar, the attorney representing the owners of the property next door and Bay Area Contracting, the company doing the excavation and construction work. Their demands and requests for me, in part, include:
Removal: “Immediately remove the Facebook post(s) and Gazette publications containing these false statements, including any related reposts, shares, comments, captions, and threads under your control or influence.” I’ve removed any posts on my personal Facebook page concerning this project, as of about 4 p.m. today. Further down this story, you’ll see that Marc requests that I also preserve them. I’m not sure how to remove Facebook posts and also preserve them, so what I’ve done is set the posts so that only I can see them. So if you read those posts and/or commented on them and can’t see them anymore, that’s why. Hopefully, Facebook will comply with that.
On the Gazette’s Facebook page, I posted links to the previous stories I’ve written about the project shortly after they were published. That’s a little trickier, because those stories are news reports about Peninsula Township business and activities. I don’t see a way to set these posts so that only I can see them. I don’t believe there’s anything in those stories that is false or misleading, but rather simply reporting on Township business. (I’ve checked them over and removed anything in the stories that might be deemed as false or misleading). What I’ve done here is included a link to this story at the top of those Gazette Facebook posts.
Written Confirmation: “Provide written confirmation by 5 p.m. November 10, 2025 that you have complied with the foregoing, including (a) the date and time of removal, (b) a copy/screenshot and link of the retraction/correction as posted, and (c) a description of steps taken to preserve relevant materials.” I will email a link to this story back to Marc as soon as I hit Publish.
Retraction and Correction: “Publish a retraction and correction in the same forum(s) and with visibility equal to or greater than the original post(s). The retraction must state clearly that your prior statements regarding construction impacts, septic placement, and approvals were incorrect and are withdrawn.”
You are reading my statement on this. I retract and withdraw statements I made about the septic being underneath the creek. I’m not an engineer, and perhaps my understanding about the placement of the septic is incorrect. I also retract and withdraw my statement that the contractors clear-cut the property (Marc states that they did leave some trees) and that the property is “unbuildable.” There is excavation taking place in preparation for a home to be built there.
Because I myself have not personally seen all the permits and approvals for this project from the Township and various entities, here is what Marc McKellar says about the project in the letter he sent me.
From Marc McKellar’s cease and desist letter to me (read the full letter here):
“Unfortunately, even from a position of understandable inquiry, your statements expressly or implicitly allege things that are simply untrue. Despite your published statements to the contrary, neither the Township nor its legal counsel made any determination that construction activities violated approvals; the Township merely requested an opportunity to review the project with the property owner, and finding of noncompliance was issued.
“EGLE did in fact conduct due diligence and issued the required permits following environmental review, and the property owners themselves completed the necessary due diligence, the issue raised in prior meetings concerned whether a previous seller disclosed the need for an easement-related variance, not whether the current owners failed to investigate buildability.
“The temporary access drive was permitted for equipment access and is not a new road, and the property was not completely clear-cut; tree removal was selective and some required removal for safety for the crew for placement of the homes foundation and the retaining walls. Meaningful restoration of the temporary drive area, some parts of the ridge and plantings are part of the approved final excavation and landscaping.
“The residence is not being built in a wetland. The septic tanks and drain field are not located under the creek or in the wetland. And no evidence exists that the project has caused any degradation to the landscape or water quality. The fencing added this week goes beyond what is required. It was not installed to conceal or remedy anything after the fact.
“The utility provider, not the owners, determined and installed the electric service line consistent with its existing authority. Finally, the property is not “unbuildable,” and the owners hold all required permits, including well and septic permits, which are publicly accessible. These assertions are inaccurate, unsupported, and defamatory. They have caused and are causing harm to my clients’ reputation and business interests.”
I appreciate Marc outlining all this, and I apologize if anything I’ve said or written has caused undue harm or distress to the property owners or contractor. I grew up on an Old Mission Peninsula where neighbors settled disputes with handshakes and conversations in the back forty. I hope that we can get back to that at some point.
No Further False Statements: “Cease and desist from publishing, republishing, or otherwise disseminating any further false, misleading, or unverified statements concerning the clients, the approvals, or construction activities at the Property.” Done.
No Trespass: “Refrain from entering onto or accessing the Property for any reason without the clients’ express written permission. For obvious safety and legal reasons, you are not permitted to trespass on the Property.” Done.
I also want to note here that Consumers Energy is not allowed to trespass on my property in order to service the property next door. I have written to Consumers Energy asking for clarification and/or evidence of a utility easement in my driveway, and also talked with Consumers Energy staffers who’ve driven up my driveway. I spoke with two workers today who said they would give their boss, Nick, my name and number. At this writing, I have not heard back from Nick or anyone else at Consumers Energy.
Accuracy of Approvals and Disclosures: “The clients provided more information than required by law in support of the approvals and made no misrepresentations. All activities were demonstrated to the township and were publicly available through the established approval processes. Any statements to the contrary are false.”
Preservation: “Immediately preserve and do not delete, alter, or destroy any materials relating to your statements, including but not limited to posts, comments, messages, emails, photos, videos, drafts, metadata, and the identities and contact information of any recipients or collaborators.” I’ve removed the Facebook posts containing anything that might be misleading or false (I set the posts so that only I can see them), and have removed anything in the Gazette stories that might be misleading or false.
I want to thank Marc McKellar for sending along this letter and allowing me to respond. I also want to thank the Township for keeping the process transparent and doing their due diligence on building and development projects that come along on the Old Mission Peninsula. Public trust is built through open communication and fair enforcement, and that benefits everyone involved.
I do think it’s important for local journalists to feel free to write, speak, ask questions, and participate in township matters. As always, I’ll continue to report on local projects and updates that affect our community.
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Being in the industry, I can tell you that money can be made and development can happen without losing a sense of community. Change is inevitable, and when projects are permitted properly, builders have every right to build. But when they trample the system, disregard their neighbors, and follow it up with a $500 intimidation letter from the attorney they keep on speed dial, just to make people sweat, that’s not progress. That’s insecurity disguised as authority or they are hiding something.
When you step into a community as a builder or developer, you’re entering a public space, not a private kingdom. If your project requires explanation, then explain. Communicate. Answer questions. Progress should never come at the expense of respect.
Hi there. I had a home on OMP for 20 years and sold recently. It was not my primary home but I spent a lot of time there. I want to wish good luck to those building this home. Good luck fitting in, being accepted, and ever being forgiven for the grievous error of CHANGE.
This might strike some as overtly cautious or even conservative, but I think that people should simply not dig into hills that might be at risk of erosion! Especially when the people who’s hill they’re digging into is one they live on! Furthermore I think that sending out SLAPP suits is frankly silly and dangerous!
Martha- this has nothing to do with accepting CHANGE. It has everything to do with respecting the land, the neighbors and zoning ordinances that are in place to protect fragile ecosystems.
Martha – this has nothing to do with accepting CHANGE. It has everything to do with respecting the land, the neighbors and the zoning ordinance in place to protect fragile ecosystems.
As Cindy said “change is inevitable”. Evolution is necessary. Almost everyone understands those ideas. But misrepresentation and failing to adhere to restrictions you have agreed to , with the effect being environmental degradation is not acceptable. And certainly not the way to join a neighborhood.
Hopefully the new neighbors are more friendly than their attorney.
Agree completely. To come in a stomp on a region that is not only a very tight community at its core, but highly protected land so it feels like it does today 50 years from now. I was around when Underwood Farms happened, a moratorium as passed on site condos and developments because the township board saw what was to come. The tightened regulations and it did take a long time until the OGrady development on Bluff road happened. Clear cutting hillsides and putting up vistas of windows and fiber cement. Land conservation efforts came into action and a lot of land was preserved. However some was not. More McMansions with swimming pools will come, and available land is more challenged than ever. “Wetland” what wetland???? Is going to become more common. Sadly Change is inevitable and the township needs to re-armor for the modern day social mannerisms to just lie, manipulate and ask for forgiveness instead of permission.
I feel that Jane’s reporting on this situation has been fair and honest from her perspective. She was not trying to defame or spread rumors. As a reporter she has always been impartial in my opinion. I feel as a longtime resident here, she has the right to editorialize a bit on this one, given the proximity to her home and her deep awareness of the land. She has genuine concerns. In my opinion this building project, so far as I can see, is detrimental to the environment in multiple ways and should not have been approved. There are some practices that are destructive, no matter what the law says. Let’s use some common sense and take into account the common good. We are stewards of this land. I hope the developer will read The Lorax, and take heed (“I speak for the trees”).
Maybe we should send their lawyer a “Cease and Desist” on his cease and desists.
I want to clarify something: change is inevitable. Underwood Farms has become a major part of the Peninsula, and so has the development with O’Grady. They’re very nice people, and I would gladly do business in those areas.
What Peninsula Township recognized—and what they hit the brakes on—was the question: Do we really want our hillsides to turn into walls of windows? What the township and the Conservancy managed to preserve is remarkable. What they staved off is even more so.
We all need to work together, not sidestep the process. Work with the community, just as Jane has said. There are no “bad people” here—just a modern learning curve where progress happens, and preservation has to remain a priority.
Do not let this or any attorney keep you from speaking the truth, or from speaking at all. This attorney has a history of participating in suits against individuals seeking help from their government. That is called a slap suit. We cannot stand for this as a community. I expect my own cease and desist will be forthcoming for even saying this.
Why Willy Shake said “1st, kill all the attorneys !”
Jane, I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Thanks for standing up for preservation. Your response seems strategically astute. Your readership appreciates you!
Stay strong and keep going Jane. You are FOR OUR PENINSULA and not giving in those who want to ruin it. I live just below the O’Grady development which is immaculate. They did not try to ruin the land or ours developing the area. They are really good people. Becky