KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The dispute over a land-locked cottage that sits inside the Kalamazoo County’s Prairie View Park is not over.
The Michigan Court of Appeals this month granted an application for leave to appeal. The cottage owners applied to the appeals court in August 2023, following a ruling in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court that said the county could take the family-owned cottage through the use of eminent domain.
The cottage on Gourdneck Lake is owned by the Talanda and Johnson families. Kalamazoo County wants to incorporate the land into the rest of the park, saying it’s a liability to have private property in the middle of a park.
When the county park was created in 1963, five members of the Talanda family, along with their spouses, signed a deal with the county, saying the county would get the first right to purchase the property if it was ever sold. The last of the signers died in 2019.
Family members argue the county has been trying to acquire the property owners’ cottage since the 1960’s and failed to demonstrate any need or public use.
Kalamazoo County officials say they intend to convert the land into park space and include it in Prairie View Park.
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