A Northport woman who purchased a new $729,000 waterfront condo in the BayView development in the Village of Suttons Bay may get her money back from the developer because of alleged building code violations in the project.

Meanwhile, the owner of a nursery that landscaped much of the BayView property has filed suit against the developer for not paying a $78,052 bill for landscaping services and materials.

At the same time, at least 76 liens are now on file at the Leelanau County Register of deeds office against the BayView property, submitted by several subcontractors who say they’re still owed money for materials and labor they provided for the project last year and before.

The developer of the massive BayView project, Marcus Yono of Brighton, did not return phone calls from a reporter seeking comment on this story. Yono’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

However, the “builder of record” for the BayView project, Yono employee Wayne Cockrum, issued the following statement Wednesday morning:

“I can say categorically as builder of record that all of our condominiums and other structures have been thoroughly inspected by the Leelanau County Building Department and there are no code violations. The BayView project is absolutely in compliance with the Michigan Building Code and the Michigan Residential Code,” Cockrum said.

Cockrum said he was “not sure” about the liens filed against BayView and could not comment about any pending litigation.

A 231-acre site plan for the BayView project was approved more than two years ago by the Village of Suttons Bay and was expected to nearly double the number of housing units available in the village. Phase one of the project, with 700 feet of water frontage on Suttons Bay, is nearing completion. Construction of phase two, west of M-22 and north of M-204, is now under way. Overall, the project is expected to add more than 500 new homes to the village plus other amenities.

Village manager Chuck Stewart said he’d heard some “rumblings” about contractors not being paid and other problems with the BayView project – but that no problems have impacted the village government. Yono has already given the village about $1.3 million to pay for his share of a new, expanded sewer system serving the village.

“The developer has no outstanding obligations to the village at this point,” Stewart said.

The head of the Leelanau County Building Inspections department, Robert VanDyke, acknowledged that he, too, had heard some “rumblings” from contractors and others about problems at BayView, but was unaware of any building code violations. VanDyke said he planned to review recently-filed court documents outlining the alleged violations.

On Feb. 6, an attorney representing Melinda Funston of Northport filed a complaint for a judgment confirming an award granted last month through a Home Buyer-Home Seller Arbitration Tribunal. Glen Arbor attorney Richard Figura, who also serves on the Leelanau County Economic Development Corporation Board, served as arbitrator in the case.

Funston had complained that her BayView condominium unit was defective “in that she could hear normal conversations in the unit next door and every footstep in the unit above,” according to the arbitration report.

“I believe (Funston) has met her burden of proof in establishing that the subject condominium unit did not meet the sound transmission requirements of the Michigan Building Code,” Figura wrote.

Several “expert witnesses” were called to testify during the arbitration sessions. One testified that window and window trim were improperly installed in Funston’s unit in violation of the Michigan Building Code. Another testified that furnace and water heater exhaust vents were not installed in keeping with manufacturer specifications and building codes.

The arbitration tribunal directed Yono’s “Suttons Pointe Development, L.L.C.” to pay back Funston the $729,000 she paid for the condo unit, plus the approximately $6,000 she paid to upgrade and repair her unit.

Meanwhile, the owner of Northport Nursery, Inc., Jeff Keith of Suttons Bay, this week was waiting for Yono’s lawyers to respond to a suit Keith’s attorney filed on Jan. 19. The suit claims Yono’s “Suttons Pointe Development, L.L.C.” owes Northport Nursery more than $78,000 for labor and materials.

“I’m not the only one who hasn’t been paid, but I may be the first one to file suit,” Keith said. “I’ll be able to stay in business, but a lot of vendors could be in deep trouble because they’re not getting paid.”

Keith said he believes the impact may go beyond the needs of local businesses, however.

“I think the whole community is being let down,” Keith said. “We all wanted to see something good come out of that old Frigid Foods property, but things don’t appear to be working out the way we had all hoped.”

Jerry Flaska of Leelanau Redi-Mix expressed similar sentiments. The concrete supplier is one of several businesses that have filed liens at the Register of Deeds office in Leland against the BayView property.

“In our case, we’re owed more than $13,000 for some concrete sidewalks we did,” Flaska said. “And I know for a fact that there are a lot of people out there besides us that haven’t been paid either.”

Lincoln Brick and Supply of Grand Rapids has also filed liens totaling more than $7,000, while Suttons Bay Heating, Inc., has filed liens totaling more than $8,000.

The county Register of Deeds, Barb Kirt, explained that although there are more than 76 liens filed, most of them are duplicates. She explained that liens must be filed separately for each of the dozens of condo units in the development that may be affected by the lien.

by Eric Carlson
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