Bench Trial Continues for Camp Owasippe and Blue Lake Township

The Owasippe Scout Reservation trial will resume at 1:30 pm, Friday, December 7 under Judge William C. Marietti, Muskegon (Michigan) Circuit Court. Chicago Area Boy Scout Council (CAC) is suing for re-zoning of the near-5000 acre tract within Blue Lake Township.

For 95 years this land has been used as a Boy Scout Camp, but the council has been pursuing an option to sell it to a developer for several years. The township has resisted the re-zoning request on various grounds. Scouters around the country have risen up to preserve the camp. Yet the council persists in its efforts to sell. (See Oldest Operating Boy Scout Camp Still Fighting for its Life)

The trial began October 16th, and has run for a total of nine days to date. The defense case is expected to wrap up on December 7, and this could be the final day of the trial. James Nelson, attorney for the township, is expected to call as witnesses a township planning commissioner and a professional planner.

Judge Marietti has requested that closing arguments be submitted in writing rather than given orally.

The fires of controversy continue to blaze around this conflict. The township insists that it has the right to develop a master plan that meets their own goals. They also point out that they have no infrastructure at all to deal with a massive residential development.

Chicago Area Scout Council continues to insist that it has the right to do as it wishes with its own property, and that the township is merely being obstructive. After years of wrangling the court will now make the decision.

Owasippe Outdoor Educational Center (OOEC), a group dedicated to purchase Owasippe and to preserve it for camping and recreational use, has offered the CAC $12.4 million for the property. This value was set on the property by a State Certified Appraiser. The CAC has declined this offer, yet they have spent several hundred thousand dollars pursuing the offer from the developer. The developer offered $19.4 million, contingent on rezoning. "The CAC has spent tens of thousands of dollars for that extra $6 million. A council that has about $22-million in net worth and listed Owasippe on their IRS990 to have a depreciated value of just above 400 thousand." ¹

Owasippe supporters are encouraged to be present in the courtroom on December 7, possibly the final day of the trail. But there is no guarantee that Judge Marietti will give his final ruling in this case at that time.

1. from "Vibrations" a print newsletter of the Owasippe Outdoor Educational Center, Vol 28, issue 4:

Additional source: the Scarlet Sassafras Newsletter (November 19, 2007) created to inform readers about the health and well-being of Camp Owasippe

Author: Joan H. Young
Headline: Bench Trail Continues for Camp Owasippe and Blue Lake Township