Jim Pagels, attorney, Otsego Co MI
Traverse City (MI) Record-Eagle
May 23, 2001
Judge will have final say on mall - Group of county residents file suit to stop Ostego County mall
GAYLORD - A judge said Tuesday he will rule on whether a group of county residents have the right to fight a mall development.
After hearing three hours of arguments Tuesday, Otsego County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Murphy said he will consider whether attorney Jim Pagels and members of the Otsego County Rural Alliance have legal standing to continue a lawsuit against Bagley Township.
Pagels and the alliance are opposed to using Downtown Development Authority funds to build a sewer system that would serve the 800,000-square-foot-plus Northwoods Crossings retail development.
The first two phases of the project, which will include a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse and Meijer store, already have been approved by planners.
Pagels, an Otsego Lake Township resident, said he believes he has the right to sue because he already has exhausted other avenues, including an appeal to the zoning board and a referendum to vote on bonds to pay for the wastewater treatment plant. A January proposal to sell $4.5 million in bonds passed by 56 votes.
Last month Murphy denied a request to issue an injunction to halt the sale of the bonds.
Pagels also argued Tuesday that the alliance has the right to sue because one of its members would be affected by the diverting of DDA funds away from other public services to pay the sewer bonds, and another resident lives near the development.
Mark Lorence, attorney for Bagley Township, and Otsego County Prosecutor Kevin Hesselink, both disagreed.
"The plaintiffs fought a political battle and the plaintiffs lost the political battle," Lorence said. "The project is ready to go and it should be allowed to proceed."
Judge Murphy will make a final decision on whether the lawsuit should proceed at a later date.
Dan Sanderson is the reporter for Otsego, Crawford and Cheboygan counties. He can be reached at (517) 731-9684, or at [email protected] staff writer
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