Bay Shore residents pick up 30-year-old fight for quality of life

Editor's Note: A photo from the original version of this story has been removed.

BAY SHORE — Residents of the historic Bay Shore neighborhood in Hayes Township are facing an issue that was thought to have been settled more than 30 years ago.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bay Shore area residents fought against a gravel mine operation on Petoskey Street. After a year of fighting, an agreement was struck that would give the company, H & D, 30 years to mine. After that, the land had to be restored so it could be repurposed.

Three years after the 2019 deadline, the land has not been fully mined and only partially restored. Now residents are once again fighting for their quality of life as the township considers rezoning the property adjacent to the pit from agricultural to industrial.

More: Carp Lake residents oppose 10th proposed gravel mine

More: Check out our offers and read the local news that matters to you

The zoning will be decided in a Hayes Township Planning Commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at the township hall. Anyone who can’t attend the meeting can submit comments to Ron VanZee by fax (231) 237-0046, email zoning@hayestownshipmi.gov or mail to 09195 Major Douglas Sloan Road in Charlevoix. VanZee can also be reached at (231) 497-4701.

The fight 30 years ago

Back in September 1986, a Michigan company called H & D purchased property along Petoskey Street with the intent of mining the area for gravel. When Hayes Township would not grant them a permit, the company took legal action in 1987.

An agreement was reached in 1988 that would allow H & D to mine for gravel over a period of 30 years.

Several residents were upset over the decision because the township did not hold a public hearing before settling. A group of them came together and hired attorney Jim Olsen to help them address their main concerns.

The issue was settled in 1989 with most of the concerns addressed and conditions placed on the company that they had 30 years to mine the material and had to complete the mining in four phases. The agreement also placed restrictions on when and how the mining could operate.

In 1991, H & D appealed to extend its mining operation to property closer to the headwaters of Horton Creek. The intervenors opposed this expansion on the grounds the company hadn’t finished mining the area it already had and that there hadn’t been an environmental study into the impacts the operation would have on the nearby wetlands.

The response filed by the intervenor’s attorney argued that residents had suffered noise, health effects and reduced property values. It objected to expansion until residents received compensation for their lost values; approximately $160,000 at the time, which would be about $348,048 today.

A critical point of the agreement was that after 30 years, the property would be restored so the land could be repurposed, potentially as four residential lots.

In 2019, 30 years after the agreement took effect, H & D had not finished mining and had only restored a portion of the property.

Another major concern that remains an issue today is the area’s wells. Bay Shore residents still use the same wells they did 30 years ago, which are only three feet deep and are considered an “unconfined aquifer,” meaning they have no protective layer of impermeable material to protect them from contamination.

More than 20 residents became intervenors in the case at the cost of $40,000 in legal fees, which is equivalent to nearly $100,000 today.

“We formed a group called The Concerned Citizens of the Bayshore Area and then we had bake sales and yard sales or whatever,” said Jim Rudolph, one of the original intervenors.

Jim’s wife, Jo Ellen, also an intervenor, added “That was 34 years ago and there’s just no way, Jim and I are too old to lead this thing now, we simply can’t do it."

The fight against industrial rezoning

Taking up the helm today is resident Kim Fary who moved to the area 26 years ago with her husband after two years of struggling to find a home they could afford. The couple had reservations about buying a home near a gravel pit but were assured by their neighbors that there was an agreement that would restore the land.

Fary became aware that the township was considering rezoning the property adjacent to the gravel mine back in March and has since been researching the history of the properties and rallying her neighbors to help her stop the rezoning. Bay Shore is in Charlevoix County, but is right on the boundary edge, which means the neighboring trailer park that will also be impacted by the zoning change is in Emmet County.

“Unfortunately, people here in my little neighborhood, we don't have that kind of money to have that kind of thing legally evaluated for our side,” Fary said. “So this has been really a struggle. We again, unfortunately are a little bit poorer community and it's very inconvenient that we are right here on the border as well. So, you're trying to have people from the Emmet County side advocate, as well as people here advocate, and that has been a little difficult.”

The property that is being considered for rezoning is currently owned by the Emmet County Road Commission. The commission has a signed purchase agreement with the Manthei Corporation and Manthei submitted an application for rezoning on Aug. 11.

The application did not provide a reason for the rezoning but, according to Hayes Township Supervisor Ron VanZee, if the land is rezoned as industrial, anything Manthei wants to do with it would require a public hearing first.

"The Manthei Group consists of several family-operated businesses, serving communities in NorthwesternMichigan since the 1930s. With a primary focus on industrial innovation in the building materials andservices sector, we are interested in the rezoning of these particular parcels because they are adjacent toother industrial-use properties in the area," managing member Josh Manthei said in an emailed statement.

"The particular corridor in which these parcels are situated is slated for future industrial use, according to the current Hayes Township Master Plan published in 2019. Rezoning this vacant land will enable the responsible transition from a depleted aggregate mine into a productive, restored site, allowing for a range of potential uses that will benefit the region for years to come. As long-time residents and members of this community, we see this as an excellent opportunity to continue to build and serve our region while supporting economic growth and job creation. Our commitment to our employees, customers and the communities where we live and work remains ourtop priority."

The neighborhood of Bay Shore is zoned as residential, meaning there would be very little space between the industrial zone and the residents.

The area is home to Bay Shore Steel, which Fary said residents have no issue with, however, they do not want to be surrounded by industrial zones.

“They are owned by the tribe, we have no problems with them. They are a very responsible company that is no detriment to us. But the problem is because that is an industrial facility, (the township) will use that as an end to say that this follows zoning regulations rather than going into what is best for our township, what is best for the people here and what our needs are right now,” Fary said.

Mike Wilczynski, a certified professional geologist and owner of Pangea Environmental, LLC was contacted by Fary about her concerns for the resident wells and the local watershed.

Wilczynski shared his concerns in a letter to the township where he said the change from agricultural to industrial was very unusual and that rezoning to commercial is the more common action. Wilczynski provided the News-Review with a draft of his letter, he plans to formally submit it to township officials at the Sept. 14 meeting.

In his letter, Wilczynski brought up the shallow, unprotected wells in Bay Shore and stated that an industrial operation would put the neighborhood’s only water source at risk of contamination or of drying up the groundwater.

More: Contentious battle over Lake Charlevoix development continues

More: Township sued over waterfront development

“There are wellhead protection areas (WHPA) present in the area. WHPA are the very approximate area a community or municipal well will draw its groundwater. These areas are intended to minimize the potential for the groundwater to become contaminated by limiting certain land uses within the WHPA,” Wilczynski said in the letter.

“One community well’s WHPA is for a mobile home community which generally is of lower income and presents an environmental justice issue. One industrial parcel has an impact (Bay Shore Steel), however, there is also the cumulative impact of adding more areas to be developed into industrial facilities. Why is this area selected to be the victim of more adverse impacts to human health and the environment?”

The area is not only in proximity to Horton Creek, which would bear the risk of contamination, but is half a mile from Lake Michigan. The land leading to both bodies of water slopes downward, which risks stormwater runoff picking up contaminants and carrying them into these water sources.

Whether this land will be rezoned as industrial or remain agricultural will be decided on Sept. 14 at the planning commission meeting. Fary is encouraging residents to show up and share their thoughts.

“This has been horrible on me mentally and physically. It's just, it's really hard,” Fary said. “I did not move up here for this stuff, I moved up to have a very simple, humble life.”

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Bay Shore residents oppose industrial rezoning near homes