PESHAWBESTOWN -- A group of local waterfront property owners are fighting a recent decision to place a former railroad corridor into federal trust status for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
A public notice last month in Leelanau County prompted six land owners along Suttons Bay to file a federal complaint over a Bureau of Indian Affairs decision to move into trust more than 22 acres of the former railroad right-of-way.
The lawsuit, filed April 18, alleges federal officials' final decision to put the property in trust "was unlawful, arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion, because the Grand Traverse Band does not have title to all of the land."
"Plaintiffs' separate portions of the corridor have been ... landscaped, maintained and generally occupied exclusively by plaintiffs and or their predecessors, well in excess of 15 years, thus giving them title by adverse possession," the lawsuit reads.
The 100-foot-wide corridor runs through the backyards of property lots between homes on Suttons Bay and the road. The move to trust status would remove the property from local oversight and give the tribe and federal government jurisdiction over the corridor, which runs from Belanger's Creek north to Putnam Road.
The contested section is located on the first six properties north of the creek.
Gerald Parish, superintendent for the Michigan Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, was notified of the legal action Monday, a move that halted the trust process, he said.
"Until this court case is settled ... we will essentially hold off on any further action," Parish said.
The Band first applied for federal trust status for the right-of-way in 1994 and the Bureau solicited public comment on the transaction in 2005. But Parish said the complaint was the first contact he's had with the property owners.
The Band has no plans to develop the land and recently took steps to ensure access through the corridor for homeowners, said Bill Rastetter, tribal attorney.
"That's what is crazy about the lawsuit. There is no real threat to anybody," Rastetter said. "The only uses envisioned by the tribe are the continuation of the (utility) easements that are already in place and the ability of tribal members to walk down to the creek to go fishing."
Traverse City attorney William Davison, who represents the property owners, declined comment.
The land owners either declined comment or did not return messages.
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