Actualización de la peticiónKalamazoo Commissioners Should Side with the Cottage Owners and Vote NO on Condemnation

Johnson/Talanda Cottage Update

Kristen Scranton (formally Heeter)Kalamazoo, MI, Estados Unidos
21 abr 2022

Thank you for signing our petition to support our family in saving our cottage.  We are so grateful to each of you.

In case you haven't heard, we wanted to share that my family and I, friends, and many of whom we don't even know spoke at the Kalamazoo County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday (4/19/22).  We shared stories, hard facts, legal analysis, pleas to work this out without condemnation and shared that over 2,100 people signed our petition, THE COMMISSIONERS VOTED 8 to 3 IN FAVOR OF THE COUNTY.  

This is my family's property, and we are so frustrated and sad about this outcome. We will continue to fight and defend our property. This has been going on for FIVE years now and rather than siding with our family and working this out, the County has determined it necessary to drag this on, wasting HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF TAX PAYERS' MONEY in order to take 1/3 of an acre that they plan to make into walking trails at a County park that is both under-utilized and poorly maintained (did you know that the County subsidizes this park already with tens of thousands of dollars each year?) .

Please know that our family has continually offered to work this out because we are reasonable, honest people. My grandparents never intended to give their land to the County and would be so saddened by these events. Now, litigation will continue, my family will continue to spend money to defend OUR PROPERTY and will continue to lose sleep and time all because eight Commissioners decided that the County has a greater public need for our property than my family. Ugh.

Thank you so much to all who support our family - we are so grateful to those who have reached out to us and reached out to the local government officials on our behalf. Please continue to share this petition and spread the word  about this injustice - THIS IS WRONG.

We will continue to send updates on how you might help and to keep you informed.  Thank you, again, for supporting our family.  #SAVEtheCOTTAGE

(The new article linked below shares what happened on Tuesday - please note that the opening line says that our property is landlocked, but it is NOT.)