KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – With the issue still stuck in the courts, it appears Kalamazoo County has spent over $180,000 so far in its effort to acquire a family’s lakeside cottage.
According to information provided to MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette last week, the county from November 2019 through February 2024 has spent $182,867 in legal costs in its effort to acquire the property that’s adjacent to the county’s Prairie View Park.
The property, which includes a five-room cottage in Schoolcraft Township, is now owned by two separate families, both heirs of the original owners. It is located on 142 feet of shoreline on Gourdneck Lake.
The Talanda and the Heeter-Johnson families filed joint lawsuits in October 2019 in an attempt to block the county from taking the property.
Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Curtis J. Bell ruled in August 2023 that the county had the right to force a sale of the property through eminent domain. The affected families have taken the case to the Michigan Court of Appeals, contesting the county’s eminent domain case.
An August 2022 appraisal of the cottage and land determined the value at $320,000. The county would have to pay the family a fair value for the property if the eminent domain lawsuit is successful.
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