KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The members of the Tolanda and Johnson families, who have been fighting to save their cottage on Gourdneck Lake from Kalamazoo County’s condemnation, got what they asked for last night, but it’s not what they wanted.
Apparently family members who addressed the county Board of Commissioners last night thought they had the votes to end the legal battle, now that new commissioners have been sworn in, so they asked the new board to vote to reverse their decision to seize the property.
The board did vote, not only to continue the condemnation, but to end negotiations on a compromise.
Commissioner John Gisler made the motion to end settlement talks that would have allowed the construction of separate private access to the cottage property.
The small parcel in question sits inside the county’s Prairie View Park, creating liability and access issues for the County Parks Department.
The county has been trying to obtain the property for over 60 years .
The next court hearing on the matter is this Thursday.
reporting from John McNeill
As one of the owners of the cottage, I appreciate WKZO covering the issue of the County attempting to take our cottage. We have co-existed, respectfully, with the County and it’s Parks Department since 1962, the year Prairieview Park was established. However, our cottage was built well before that, in 1949.
One sentence in the story is inaccurate and needs further clarification. It reads “The small parcel in question sits inside the county’s Prairieview Park, creating liability and access issues for the County Parks Department.” This is not true. The cottage has never had liability and access issues.
Access to the cottage is a deeded Right-of-way that was there before the park was established. A limited amount of keys have been given to the owners to lock and unlock a gate near the County’s guardhouse on U Avenue. Dave Rachowitz, the County Parks Director, has falsely claimed the liability and access issues but documentation, over many years, has shown this is not the case.
The owners (and their families) have always been respectful of the park and it’s rules. We use the Right-of-Way strictly to go to and leave the cottage. The gate is always locked if we leave after park hours. In addition, we have been a long-time property taxpayer of Schoolcraft Township.
Ourselves and our attorney’s have attempted, on numerous occasions, to meet with the County and it’s lawyers to resolve this matter but have been rebuffed at every turn. This dilemma has now stretched into it’s sixth year. The legal costs are into the thousands of dollars for both the County and the owners. The County is using taxpayer monies to pay their fees, which could be much better suited for important County infrastructure needs. In addition, the County has never given a specific reason(s) why they want to seize a property less than one acre in size on the edge of a 208-acre park.
The County’s decision to proceed with Condemnation is both wasteful, from a financial standpoint, as well as misusing the interpretation of Eminent Domain/Condemnation against a small, privately-owned cottage.
Over the years I’ve been sure to pay attention and follow this particular story whenever it pops up as it’s basic overall theme is a reoccurring one in our area, albeit with variables. Be it the county or city, these “representatives” time and time again showcase where thier misguided motivation truly is and all while never really accomplishing anything of positive significance for the community. What a waste like always but they do what they do best and can you blame them? Without harassing citizens like this they wouldn’t have anything else better to do. Condolences to the Tolanda and Johnson families.
My father, Edmund Talanda, was the last legal owner of the family cottage on Gourdneck Lake. It was his his express desire, written into his Estate documents, to honor his 1963 contract with Kalamazoo County. That contract declares that the lake property will be offered to the County at a fair market value when the last surviving owner passes away. This was done in exchange for the County not condemning the cottage at that time. None of the original owners would approve of this attempt by some of their heirs to cheat the county out of this agreement. There is much more to this story than meets the eye, so I would caution the public to not prejudge the county’s position until all the facts are uncovered in court.