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County Board approves referendum language after
Crosswindsí challenge
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Keweenaw County Commissioners deliberate during their August 15 meeting in the Courthouse
in Eagle River before approving the language of the November 7 referendum on zoning changes at Mt. Bohemia. Pictured,
from far left, are County Attorney Donna Jaaskelainen, County Clerk Marilyn Winquist, Board Chairman Lyle Peterson and
commissioners Annette Gagnon, Jeff Turnquist, Frank Stubenrauch and Gordon Roberts. In background is Kathleen Vettori,
recording the meeting for Frank Ellias, Crosswindsí attorney.
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EAGLE RIVER -- The Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners discussed,
deliberated and finally approved this week the wording of the November referendum on
Mt. Bohemia zoning changes after a presentation by Crosswinds Communitiesí attorney
Frank Elias, who challenged the wording of the petition requesting the referendum.
The referendum will allow local residents to decide whether to accept or reject: 1)
changing areas currently zoned Conservation-Environmental Protection (CD-EP) in the
area of the proposed ski hill project to Resort Services (RS) zoning and 2) approving an
amendment to permit ski resorts - including base lodges, lifts, storage and maintenance
buildings, restaurants and related uses - under RS zoning. A vote of yes accepts the
zoning changes (approved by the county board last spring but put on hold by the
impending referendum) which will allow Crosswinds - a developer from Novi, Mich. to
complete the building of their proposed Mt. Bohemia ski resort near Lac La Belle. A vote of no is a vote to retain the original zoning.
County Attorney Donna Jaskelainen told the board, "When you are drafting a language
for a ballot for the referendum issue, you musy . . . make the language clear enough for
the voters to understand what they are voting on."
Jaaskelainen referred to Michigan Statute 168.485 (of Act 116 of 1954), which reads:
"A question submitted to the electors of this state or the electors of a subdivision of this
state shall, to the extent that it will not confuse the electorate, be worded so that a "yes"
vote will be a vote in favor of the subject matter of the proposal or issue and a "no" vote
will be a vote against the subject matter of the proposal or issue. The question shall be
worded so as to apprise the voters of the subject matter of the proposal or issue, but
need not be legally precise. The question shall be clearly written using words that have a
common everyday meaning to the general public. The language used shall not create prejudice for or against the issue or proposal."
Ellias, however, cited Michigan Statute 125.212, paragraph c, which reads:
"(c) If a petition is filed within 30 days after publication of the ordinance, the county clerk
determines that the petition is adequate and the ordinance or part of the ordinance is
approved by a majority of the registered electors residing in that portion of the county
outside the limits of cities and villages voting on the zoning ordinance or part of the
zoning ordinance at a regular election or special election called for that purpose. The
county board of commissioners shall provide the manner of submitting the zoning
ordinance or part of the zoning ordinance to the electors for their approval and determining the result of the election."
Ellias claimed this paragraph does not contain anything which allows anyone the
opportunity to rewrite, change or amend the petition. At the same time, Ellias said that
while the county clerk had done "an excellent job of listening to everybody, considering a
very difficult issue," she had said the petition doesnít describe the real estate involved in the zoning changes.
However, County Clerk Marilyn Winquist had not found the petitions inadequate.
In her July 11 letter to the board, Winquist wrote, "After checking the signatures as to
being registered voters of Keweenaw County, I approve the petitions as to form and the
required number of signatures (151 were required; I approved 263)."
Although the board approved the petition at their July 11 meeting, Ellias still held that the
wording of the petition was "not adequate" since it did not include the legal description of
the property to be rezoned, even though that description was attached to the Notice of Intent for the petition.
"The failure to include any legal description - the failure to even put in the words "Mt.
Bohemia - is fatally defective," Ellias said. "You canít intelligently make a decision on a
real estate issue if you donít know what the real estate is."
Ellias exhibited a map showing the area of proposed zoning changes, saying, "If no one
sees a map or has any type of description, they donít realize that the zoning was already
correct for what we were trying to do. The only issue that was being changed here was
the location of various improvements . . . For instance, (in) the proposed zoning change
area (zoned) as CD-EP - weíre certain that a low-intensive, recreational use, such as
skiing, would be allowed within that ordinance. Well, anybody who was just signing the
petition, without any legal description, had no ability to check on it."
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Crosswindsí attorney Frank Ellias addresses the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners at
their August 15 meeting in the Courthouse in Eagle River. Ellias displayed a map showing the Mt. Bohemia zoning changes to
be proposed on the November 7 referendum. At right is Crosswindsí Lonie Glieberman, Mt. Bohemia project manager.
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After pointing out the need for a description of the property included in the proposed
zoning change, Ellias argued that the same petition language should be on the referendum
and changing the language would violate the "purity of elections" set forth in every Michigan Constitution (mentioned in Article II, section 4 of the Michigan Constitution).
"The changes to the incident petition contemplated by the clerk and the commissioners
would violate the purity of elections principle since the changes would exceed their ministerial authority," Ellias said.
Adding that he was not saying the legal description - included in the Notice of Intent for
the petition - was intentionally left out of the petition, Ellias still maintained that the failure
to include it was "misleading and false." After doing research on various referenda in
Michigan, Ellias noted possible minor changes in wording are acceptable for clarification.
However, he noted, to add the legal description of property to the referendum language
now would be violating the purity of elections "by impermissibly favoring the petition backers."
"You do not have the right, at this point, to change the language," he said. "Thereís
nothing you can do tonight to correct the fact that these petitions were not adequate."
Jaskelainen said she had checked with the state assistant attorney generalís office and
received word that the board could add, to the language on the petition for the
referendum, a legal description of the area to be rezoned or a phrase such as "Mt.
Bohemia and the surrounding area" to clarify the location of the zoning changes.
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Crosswindsí attorney Frank Ellias confers with Keweenaw County Attorney Donna
Jaaskelainen during the Board of Commissioners meeting on August 15 in the Keweenaw County Courthouse in Eagle River.
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Ralph Duffek of the Houghton-Keweenaw Cooperative Extension said his office holds
non-biased informational meetings on zoning and land use issues and they would be
willing to hold one or two public meetings to explain the referendum proposal that will be on the November 7 election ballot.
Duffek said he was not invited by Crosswinds or by the board to make his offer but decided on his own to attend the meeting.
"I sensed there was some controversy brewing," Duffek said Friday. "Itís a service the
Extension can provide (for counties and groups). I decided to go up and see if they
needed it . . . Our goal would be to make it clear to the public exactly what the referendum is saying."
Duffek said one meeting and possibly two would probably be held in late October or
early November, most likely at the Mohawk School or at the Gitche Gumee Bible Camp in Eagle River.
After deliberation, the board approved the wording for the referendum to include a
description of the areas of Sections 28, 29 and 30 ’Äì called "a portion of Mt.
Bohemia" - now zoned CD-EP and intended to be rezoned to RS if the vote is yes. The
referendum also proposes to amend Resort Service permitted uses to include a "Ski
Resort, including base lodges, lifts, storage and maintenance buildings, restaurants, and
related uses." (See the minutes of the August 15 Board meeting for the full wording of the referendum proposal.)
Crosswinds maintains a vote of no will not prevent their building a ski hill in the CD-EP
districts; however, the county Zoning Board of Appeals would have to approve such construction in CD-EP, and it has postponed that decision until after the referendum.
On April 11, 2000, at the request of Lake Superior Land Co., a subsidiary of International Paper, the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners approved a zoning
change from CD-EP to RS in areas of Sections 28, 29 and 30 on Mt. Bohemia and an
amendment to include ski resorts as a permitted use under RS. The ski resort proposed
by Crosswinds is said to include a lodge, parking lot and 50 rental units as well as
chairlifts. The ski runs and parking lot have already been cleared and graded, and the
company has obtained soil erosion and stormwater permits from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Board members advised by insurance reps before August 15 meeting
EAGLE RIVER - A representative of the insurance program in which Keweenaw
County is enrolled spoke with county officials shortly before the August 15 board
meeting in a closed informational meeting, following a brief committee meeting that was open to the public.
Jim Youngblood, vice-president of claims for the Michigan Township Participating Plan,
Attorney Dave Mecklin and Mark Hannula, independent insurance agent for Keweenaw
County, met with County Board Chairman Lyle Peterson, County Attorney Donna
Jaaskelainen, County Zoning Administrator Jane Pelto and County Clerk Marilyn Winquist the afternoon of August 15 in the County Courthouse.
Hannula said after he had informed the insurance representatives of the controversial
issues concerning the Mt. Bohemia ski hill project, Youngblood decided to visit county
officials in order to discuss zoning liabilities and gather information.
"The biggest liabilities for counties involve zoning," Hannula said. "Zoning is a hot issue
no matter where it is in the state . . .Weíre in there just to apprise our customers where or if coverage applies in matters of zoning issues."
Hannula said the main purpose of the meeting was to allow the insurance representatives
to gather information about Keweenaw County zoning issues, including copies of minutes
and ordinances. He added once the information is compiled, an informational meeting could be held to inform the public.
"Our insurance program suggested that they (county officials) have an informational
meeting so the people will know why theyíve taken the steps they have . . . and why they had to take these steps," he said.
Hannula noted the meeting with county officials was a good start.
"We had a very good meeting with them," he said. "Weíre progressing down the road to the point where weíll have more information."
- Michele Anderson
August 19, 2000
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