Ticket issued after trees removed in Waterford - Oakland Press

Ticket issued after trees removed in Waterford - The Oakland Press

A Waterford Township man faces an Aug. 7 court date for removing trees on his South Cass Lake Road property that includes wetlands. Another is unable to use a recycling site until he meets township standards. Both men say they weren’t aware of township rules for site development, but public records tell a different story.

Jonathan Bloch was told by township officials and by the state to stop the work earlier this year, but over the July Fourth weekend he continued clearing his land of trees.

After the township issued a ticket, he used his Facebook page to advertise a free firewood giveaway. His social media accounts include numerous photos of the tree cutting, including areas where groundwater appears to be seeping to the surface.

“I had no idea I needed a permit to cut trees,” Bloch said Tuesday, adding that he wasn’t aware of the ticket or the court date. The 26-year-old said he’s an independent businessman who started as a commercial truck driver at age 19 but created Great Lakes Trailer Sales and switched to sales because he’s a single father and wants to be consistently at home.

He estimated that at least 20 large trees were removed from the site. The township’s superintendent of planning and zoning, Jeffrey Polkowski, described the trees as large and said they’ve been on the land for many decades without any disturbance. The trees and plants removed have left a muddy, stump-filled empty field.

Polkowski and Gary Wall, township supervisor, said a number of unpermitted developments have been started over the last year.

“I worked in construction for more than 40 years and people have broken rules since the start of time,” Wall said. “But this is more than normal.”

An engineer hired by the township to inspect Bloch’s site noted he removed trees from about half of the 9.5-acre site. The site is zoned for commercial businesses. A used-car dealership is next to the area that was cleared. Bloch said he bought the property, including the dealership site, in March. The dealership’s lease ends in August, he said.

The South Cass Lake Road lot is north of the 81-acre Otter Lake, part of which is designated by state and federal rules as protected wetlands.

Otter Lake is part of the Clinton River Watershed and has been part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s national wetlands inventory since 2005.

Township officials first spotted the work early this year and notified Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and Oakland County Water Resources officials.

In March, EGLE inspected the site and in May emailed Bloch a letter listing the violations. The email said he built a temporary earthen road on wetlands protected by state and federal authorities in this case and that he did not have a state permit for the work.

State law prohibits developing wetlands by adding or removing soil, draining surface water, starting construction or otherwise developing the land without an EGLE permit. EGLE officials also enforce federal environmental rules

EGLE spokesman Jeff Johnston said the state has civil and criminal penalties for unpermitted development, but they are not always needed.

“The top priority for any response action is protection and/or restoration of the wetland,” Johnson said.

Municipalities typically send a certified letter to property owners, but also put a yellow sticker with the same message on the property.

“You have to provide the township with a site plan before anything can happen,” Wall said. “We issued a stop work order on them and they went ahead. I’m assuming it was the Fourth of July weekend that they finished it up.”

Wall said over the past year there has been a surge in developments in the township without proper permits and permission from officials. The township requires a site plan approved by the planning commission before allowing work to start, with subsequent permits based upon individual plans.

In some cases those can include variances for lot and building size or height, fencing, or development on or near wetlands. The state also must issue permits related to development adjacent to or on wetlands.

Wall said township approval is required to make sure a site plan avoids unintended consequences. Among the risks on the South Cass Lake lot, he said, is that land may not be structurally stable, that construction would cause a flood risk there or on adjacent properties or create erosion and pollution issues for Otter Lake, which holds many species of fish and plants.

Polkowski said the tree roots and smaller vegetation help the ground absorb flood water.

“If you remove the root systems, that generally means it deregulates the soil, leading to erosion,” Polkowski said. People who develop commercial property without proper permits “insure the people who are wonderful business owners who do get permits and follow the proper procedures.”

Mike Ries represents Bell Site Development, 5100 Hudson Road at township meetings. He is a manager at the company, which his father founded.

Until the township told him to stop, he was using the site for recycling, from screening soil and road materials to crushing concrete.

Planning commissioners unanimously approved his special-use request on April 26, 2022, with three conditions: that he deliver a final site plan for township approval and agree to limit concrete crushing hours to between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The board reserved the right to modify or revoke the special approval based on complaints, safety concerns or site plan violations.

On March 28 this year, the commission revoked his special-use permit after he was repeatedly told to stop operations until a site plan was approved.

“I wouldn’t have bought the property if I didn’t have permission to do what I wanted to do,” Reis said. “You’re not going to buy a $1 million piece of property and $2 to $3 million of equipment to have someone say you can’t use it.”

Reis said he’s lost seven of 10 employees because of the shutdown and some professional relationships because he can’t accept or deliver materials. He estimates the cost of lost business and township fees are more than $40,000.

He said he felt the 2022 special-use vote was verbal permission to move ahead with the site work, which included clearing trash left from homeless encampments and off-road recreation that happened before he bought the site. He said he thought he had a year to finish the site plan.

One resident complained to the planning commission earlier this year about nighttime noise from the concrete crushing. Reis said noise from his site is about 102 decibels, compared to trains that pass through the area throughout the day and night 168 decibels.

Polkowski said he wants to help business developers succeed, but they need to meet township standards.

“I’m not interested in putting someone forward who spent $100,000 on site development plans just to hear a ‘no’ from the planning commission,” he said. “I like to get the use vetted first.”

Reis said he continues working with township officials to meet requirements and expects to pay for a special planning commission meeting in August to reapply for the permit. He said he’ll present a complete site plan at that time.

EGLE has ordered both Reis and Bloch to fix the damaged wetlands on their respective properties. Bloch never applied for a state permit and EGLE’s May 28 letter to him said it would not have been granted for work in that area. He was told to correct the problems within 30 days of the date of the email “or a mutually agreed upon schedule.”

Bloch must document the restoration work, which includes planting seeds native to Michigan wetlands and stabilizing them with biodegradable soil-erosion control fabric. The final requirement is to send photos of the completed work to EGLE.

Reis got a township permit to regrade the disturbed land to meet EGLE’s requirements.

Developers who ignore permit requirements face a township penalty of double the permit fees. One example is the applicant for a plan review fee for wetland, which is $100 per acre and a commercial lot escrow (returned to the property owner) of $2,000.

Bloch said he’s now spent close to $25,000 “in aggravation.”

“I’m dealing with EGLE and following proper channels,” he said, adding that he hired the Novi-based wetlands consultant Brooks Williamson and Associates and a surveyor to make a topographic map and site plan. “They want me to jump right away, but people I contracted with are 30 to 40 days out. I can’t just snap my fingers.”

He said he is learning what’s needed to make sure he meets township and state requirements.

Wall also said anyone hiring a contractor – from basic plumbing, electrical or mechanical to one ready to develop a commercial site – should make sure they have liability insurance. The property owner is ultimately responsible for ensuring work has a permit and passes inspections, he said.

A New Jersey man faces fines and fees of more than $1 million for cutting 32 old trees on a neighbor’s property to improve the view.

“I’m a little guy in a big world,” Bloch said. “I’ve driven millions of miles to crawl out of a hole. I’m a single father who wants to set up a brick-and-mortar business in my hometown with a goal of being the No. 1 business in the county … I’m just trying to make a home for that.”