Judge Pavlich hears arguments on who should be deeded Lake Huron property

A legal tug-of-war continues in 53rd Circuit Court over property in the Grace Harbor area of Bearinger Township. In the next month or two, Circuit Judge Scott L. Pavlich is likely to make a decision as to who owns property along the Lake Huron shoreline. The parcels, which are called ?outlots,? are located between Lake Huron and a platted subdivision, are being fought over by the Huron Beach Civic Association and several property owners. The primary plaintiff named on the lawsuit is Steven Slifko, although there were six owners that were part of the original suit. There now are several more people involved in the legal fight, the attorney representing the plaintiffs said. Attorney Don Darnell of Chelsea, who is representing the property owners, said his clients have requested the outlots be deeded to them by the HBCA, while Tim McArthur, general counsel for the HBCA, said his client does not want the property deeded to individuals or private parties. That was one of several issues brought before Pavlich during Monday afternoon?s hearing.

?WHAT WE have here is some folks from the Huron Beach Civic Association, who have enjoyed this beach front for so long that they can?t accept that it is not their property, and I think they are acting in bad faith,? said Darnell. ?These folks have every right to their property and they (HBCA) refuse to abide by the covenants which are more than 50 years old.? Darnell said, ?The covenants require the HBCA, which stands in the shoes of the original platter, to convey the portion of these outlots to the owner when it is requested and they have requested it.? McArthur said that when the subdivision was established in the 1950s, language was put in the original paperwork which indicates that once all the lots were sold, ?the lot owners could set up a club or association and request that the property between the end of each lot and Lake Huron, be deeded to that club or association.?

The deeds to the outlots were conveyed to the HBCA in the 1970s. McArthur said the plaintiffs are mostly individuals who own property in Spruce Park. Spruce Park is a block of 52 lots, which are owned by 18 individuals. There are some property owners in Balsam and Cedar parks that also have joined in the lawsuit.

?The plaintiffs are trying to force the Huron Beach Civic Association to deed this property between the end of these various blocks and Lake Huron to the plaintiffs as individuals,? said McArthur. ?The legal paperwork says that if a deed is to be done, it has to be deeded to them as a club or an association.? SINCE THE lawsuit was filed in August, the property owners have established seven associations in Spruce Park and when the owners met in the judge?s chambers November 28, 2005, Pavlich asked the plaintiff to put their associations in writing and forward it to the HBCA. Since Pavlich just received association agreements within the last week, he will allow the two sides to file supplemental briefs over the next couple of weeks before issuing a ruling. McArthur said there are other legal issues that still need to be looked at. One is ?what constitutes a club. We also are into these issues of whether not the Huron Beach Civic Association can put restrictions on the use of that property, to protect all of the other property owners.? A case that was recently heard before the Michigan Supreme Court was, in part, one of the reasons this ca

se was started, according to Darnell.

?There was a lot of concern because the Michigan Court of Appeals originally said, on the Great Lakes only, and not inland lakes, that people who owned beach front property owned it to the water?s edge and nobody had the right to walk across that property,? said Darnell. ?That?s what the Court of Appeals said. The Supreme Court of Michigan has reversed that and said that people have a right to walk within that area, which water will encroach upon on a daily basis. That could be anywhere from three to 20 feet. That?s what really got this going with these folks is that issue.?

MCARTHUR SAID the HBCA is dedicated to looking out for what is best for all of the property owners and deeding the outlots to individuals would not the best course of action. ?They (HBCA) believe that will defeat the purpose and the intent of what the platter wanted to do when the original plats were set up in the 1950s,? said McArthur. ?The back lot owners always have had access to the water?s edge, and the concern here is that if the property falls into individual hands, they won?t have access to it anymore.? Owner Pat Augustine said the motivation is to keep the beach the way it is but, ?nobody could do anything to the beach without permission.? The defendants will have seven days to file additional arguments, which will be followed by a seven-day period for a response by the plaintiff. Then both sides will have a chance for rebuttal statements. The judge will issue a written opinion after that.

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