The Cleveland Township Board this week voted unanimously to have its attorney send a strongly worded letter to the head of the Leelanau County Building Inspections department demanding action against a property owner who, after more than a decade, has failed to complete building his home.

"This situation has been going on for about 12 years and it’s a situation
I inherited. I can tell you that Mr. Saffell has all of the appropriate building
permits in place, and they are all current. I do not have a magic wand that
empowers me to make builders work any faster."
—County building official, Robert Meyer

If the county fails to take the appropriate action “we are prepared to file suit against them,” said Cleveland Township supervisor Tim Stein. “This (letter) is just a shot across the bow.”

Two years ago, residents of the Scenic Mountain View Estates subdivision in Cleveland Township signed a petition demanding that the Township Board take action against Robert Steven Saffell, who owns a lot in the subdivision and has been building his home there for more than 10 years. At the time, Saffell had stacked used tires around his property while several derelict vehicles and boats were stored adjacent to the four-story structure under construction.

At the urging of township officials, the Leelanau County prosecutor’s office issued a letter to Saffell directing that he complete construction of his home and obtain a certificate of occupancy by Sept. 1, 2006 or face “civil and/or criminal remedies.”

Since then, Saffell’s home has remained under construction and no certificate of occupancy has been issued – and no further action has been taken by the prosecutor’s office.

In a letter to be sent to the head of the county Building Inspections department and copied to county prosecutor Joseph Hubbell, Cleveland Township attorney Michael Kronk requested that county building official Robert Meyer “take steps to enforce the Construction Code as it pertains to Mr. Saffell’s property.”

County residents have asserted that Saffell is occupying his home without benefit of an occupancy permit – a fact that Meyer says he can’t prove.

“I haven’t yet received the letter from the township’s attorney in this matter, so obviously I can’t comment on it,” Meyer said the morning after the Township Board authorized its attorney to send the letter.

“But I am well aware of the issues regarding Mr. Saffell’s property,” Meyer said. “This situation has been going on for about 12 years and it’s a situation I inherited. I can tell you that Mr. Saffell has all of the appropriate building permits in place, and they are all current.

I do not have a magic wand that empowers me to make builders work any faster.”

Meyer also suggested that the township consider enforcing its own zoning ordinance.
A memorandum to the Cleveland Township Board from its attorney suggested the same. In addition to sending a letter to Meyer, Kronk wrote that the township might also consider filing a complaint seeking a permanent injunction against Mr. Saffell under current zoning ordinance language.

Kronk noted, however, that zoning ordinance language provides only for “misdemeanor offenses.” He suggested that the zoning ordinance might be amended to treat violations as civil infractions, with greater penalties.

Stein said he would work with the township Planning Commission to draft new zoning ordinance language allowing for more stringent enforcement action against violators.

In other business at its regular monthly meeting this week, the Cleveland Township Board:

• Learned that township residents will be allowed to participate voluntarily for one more year in the county’s solid waste recycling programs by paying an annual $30 fee. In 2006, Cleveland voters were among those in three other townships to reject a $25 per household fee to support the recycling program. However, the three other townships have since adopted alternative methods allowing residents to pay a recycling fee voluntarily.

This year, Cleveland residents petitioned to put the recycling fee proposal back on the ballot in August 2008. In the meantime, a voluntary payment program will remain in effect for Cleveland in 2008. Cleveland Township residents who want to participate in county recycling programs in 2008 must purchase a recycling authorization card through the county Planning and Community Development Department.

• Learned that the township stands to recoup a portion of the “Payment in Lieu of Taxes” (PILT) money that Leelanau County has been collecting for years from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Stein credited Glen Arbor Township supervisor John Soderholm for spearheading an effort to persuade county officials to turn 60 percent of the PILT money over to townships that provide fire, rescue and other municipal services on National Park land within township boundaries.

Stein and other members of the Cleveland Township Board agreed that the townships should receive 75 percent, not 60 percent, of the PILT money in the future. It was estimated that Cleveland Township might collect up to $6,000 in PILT money during its current fiscal year.

• Adopted a zoning ordinance amendment governing construction of residential wind energy systems on the recommendation of the township Planning Commission. The amendment does not address commercial wind generation, but outlines requirements for smaller windmills providing power for individual homes.