Couple denied driveway permit seek help from county board

Jun. 4—TRAVERSE CITY — Sandra and Justin Revnell own a 20-acre parcel of land in Long Lake Township where they'd like to build a home and hobby farm.

One thing is stopping them — a 10- to 15-foot strip of land between their property and Bannister Road that is owned by the Grand Traverse County Road Commission.

On Thursday the road commission turned down a permit that would have let the Revnells put in a driveway across the strip to connect their landlocked property with the road.

After several months of dealing with what they say is an unresponsive or barely responsive road commission, the couple's frustration brought them to the Grand Traverse County board meeting Wednesday, especially after they saw road commission members were slated for 40 to 45 percent raises.

"What we have endured in dealing with them over the last five months has severely damaged our trust in government and has the potential to strip our family of future goals," Sandra Revnell told the board.

Proposed raises would have set the annual salary for the chair at $9,000, a 39 percent increase; the vice-chair at $8,500, a 41 percent increase; and members at $8,000, a 45 percent increase. They are now paid $6,500, $6,000 and $5,500 respectively.

A motion to defer the raise proposal to the July 6 meeting and to have road commissioners attend to answer questions was approved on a vote of 5 to 2, with commission Chair Rob Hentschel and Commissioner Darryl V. Nelson voting "no."

"I'm not opposed to a salary increase because of cost of living, but perhaps we should have a discussion about how our constituents are feeling," said Commissioner Penny Morris.

Commissioner Ron Clous agreed.

"It would be good to have the road commission come in and tell us where they're at," Clous said.

Commissioner Betsy Coffia said some of her constituents in Peninsula Township have had repeated challenges with getting the road commission to be responsive. Road commissioners in Grand Traverse County are appointed by the county board rather than being elected to their posts and have no accountability to voters, she said.

"We appoint them to six-year terms, they kind of do their own thing," she said. "They have control over their budget and how they choose to interact with their constituents is largely up to them."

Changing to an elected model where commissioners are elected requires a simple majority vote of the county board.

Road commission Manager Brad Kluczynski could not be reached for comment.

The Revnells are lifelong residents of Grand Traverse County and own a home in Garfield Township. The Long Lake property has been in Justin Revnell's family for 80 years. They have a 21-month-old daughter and want to build a larger home.

The road commission recently changed a rule in the Right-of-Way Permitting and Public Road Standard Rules Document to allow access from an adjacent property. Road commission Chair Jason Gillman said the policy applies to the entire county, but was specifically changed to allow the Revnells request. Gillman said he didn't support the policy change, but did vote for it.

On Thursday a public hearing had several people supporting the Revnells putting in a driveway, though the owners of a condominium on nearby Fishers Run wrote a letter to the road commission opposing it.

The driveway permit was turned down on a vote of 2-2, with Gillman and Commissioner Carl J. Brown voting against it.

"In the end I decided not to because we had a person in the development who objected to it," Gillman said. "I felt that would have infringed on their rights."

Road Commissioner Kevin Endres recently stepped down from his post. Gillman said if he were still on the board the driveway permit would likely have been approved.

Fishers Run forms a T with the 1/2-mile-long Bannister. The condominium is not anywhere near their property, Sandra said.

For the Revnells an alternative would be placing their driveway access in a cul-de-sac at the south end of Bannister Road. Problem is, the cul-de-sac does not exist.

Sandra said there should have been cul-de-sacs at both ends of Bannister Road to allow for turnaround access for snowplowing, but when the Fishers Run housing development was approved about 20 years ago, the road commission failed to require them. The public road is privately plowed at the expense of property owners.

At that time the strip of land was deeded to the road commission as a road reserve for future development. Sandra said the developer benefitted financially from the transaction as it did not have to build the cul-de-sacs.

Building one would be their responsibility, they've been told. A 2019 estimate the couple got put the cost at $109,000. The cul-de-sac would also eat into their 20 acres.

"Without dividing and developing our property, the cost of the cul-de-sac easily outweighs the value of our property," Justin said.