Former Elmwood Township Supervisor Jack Kelly filed a complaint at the 13th Circuit Court on May 10. Kelly alleges the Elmwood Township Board violated the Michigan Open Meetings Act (OMA) at their February regular meeting, where they rescinded their directions to create a zoning district prohibiting short term rentals (STRs) after speaking with their attorney in closed session.
“(Kelly) contends that the absence of knowing what was going to be discussed in closed session that evening substantially impaired the rights of the public under the OMA … because concerned Township residents, including the Plaintiff, both saw no need, and also had no opportunity, to make known their concerns to the Township Board via either advance written comment prior to the meeting or public comment during the meeting,” the complaint states.
The complaint requests the court grant judgment that the board violated the OMA, enjoin the board to “reenact the actions and deliberations that were undertaken” in closed session in February at a future regular meeting. Current township Supervisor Jeff Shaw was reportedly served a summons and Kelly’s complaint on May 15, giving the township until June 5 to respond. Kelly has also stated to the newspaper his intention to legally represent himself in this action.
In the complaint, Kelly traces events back to September 2021 when the township board agreed to “direct the planning commission as soon as possible to remove STRs from subdivisions in Greilickville neighborhoods using an overlay district or amendment to the zoning districts,” according to the meet- ing minutes.
The board postponed action, however, because at the time the Michigan House of Representatives was discussing a bill that would have prohibited such regulations. When this bill appeared to have died on the House floor, the township raised the topic again in February 2022, but agreed to “hold off any further direction until there is a new map of the STR locations,” according to their minutes.
Kelly’s complaint says the board did not follow up on this matter until he presented it at their December 2023 meeting. Kelly demanded in October that the township board give him his own slot on their monthly meeting agendas to discuss his proposed zoning changes that would prohibit STRs in “Greilickville Residential Neighborhoods.”
Kelly got his chance when the board created an agenda item for him at their December meeting. When he finished making his case, the board narrowly approved by a 4-3 vote directing the township planning commission to remove the STRs “using an overlay district or amendment to the zoning ordinances.”
Shaw has said this motion was approved with the understanding that it would be reviewed by legal counsel. The board immediately went into closed session at its Feb. 12 meeting to discuss this item. Following an extended closed session with township attorney Bryan Graham, the Elmwood Township Board voted to rescind the motion made in December.
When discussing the motion, some board members expressed concern about passing a zoning amendment creating a nonconforming use for STRs, and uncertainty about the exact parameters of “Greilickville(‘s) Residential Neighborhoods.”
Allegations of OMA violations appear to be in style this month, as a Northport resident also filed a complaint against a county task force for allegedly violating the OMA, with the Michigan State Police reportedly investigating this separate complaint.
