12/22/2006

Special to the Record-Eagle/Mike Fullerton
Bypassing motorist Mike Fullerton of Acme stopped to take this photograph Wednesday afternoon when he spotted a small tractor doing beach work at the Cherry Tree Inn along U.S. 31 North.

Officials sift new beach-combing incident

Did Cherry Tree Inn violate state order?

By Vanessa McCray

vmccray@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Officials are trying to sort out whether the Cherry Tree Inn legally used motorized equipment to groom the beach behind the East Grand Traverse Bay resort this week, following a recent state-ordered halt to unauthorized activity at the site.

Grand Traverse County drain commissioner Kevin McElyea inspected the site Wednesday after a local resident reported that equipment had been used that day to do beach work.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality this month ordered Ohio-based inn owner Omni Hospitality to "cease and desist all unauthorized activity” after state regulators accused the resort of violating state law in late November.

The DEQ determined the hotel dredged material and acted without a valid permit when it did beach work on Thanksgiving weekend. The inn had a permit to groom and grade about 200 feet of shoreline, but that permit expired in 2005.

A portion of the shoreline that was to remain undisturbed also was dredged and filled and vegetation removed, the DEQ stated.

McElyea said he did not observe equipment operating on the beach Wednesday, but said it appeared "mechanized grooming” or "beach raking” had taken place in the top inch or so of soil.

A sunset provision in state law allows such raking to continue even after a permit expires if the property was "legally granted” a permit, McElyea said. But, he said, this week's activity appears to have extended into unauthorized areas.

McElyea observed a 10-foot swath of beach where raking "shouldn't have happened.”

"It is unacceptable. They should be in lock-down with regard to these lines and know where the limits are. They are clearly marked,” he said.

DEQ spokesman Robert McCann said hotel officials did not ask or inform the state about work it planned to perform this week.

The state was "surprised to hear that this happened,” McCann said.

The DEQ took a "preliminary look” at Wednesday's work and it was "clear that there had been some equipment operating there.” McCann said the state will investigate if the activity is permitted and how it relates to the DEQ's "cease and desist” order.

"Does that follow the spirit of what we are asking them to do? Maybe, maybe not,” McCann said.

This week's action is "a little disappointing,” even if found to be permissible, because the DEQ is trying to resolve the previous violation, McCann said.

Mike Fullerton of Acme said he was driving by the hotel Wednesday when he spotted the beach work. He said he stopped and took photographs.

"He's out there with a machine, dragging a bunch of sand,” Fullerton said. "The whole thing looks like a soccer field now.”

Omni president Joseph Moffa and the inn's attorney Joseph Quandt did not return multiple calls for comment Thursday. Moffa previously told the Record-Eagle that grooming is allowed on part of the beach and the western end is to return to marsh grass.

McElyea said the county wants to pursue criminal prosecution against the inn related to various incidents. County prosecutor Alan Schneider said his office has been "in contact” with the DEQ, but no decision has been made about prosecution.

The DEQ referred the case to the state attorney general's office but also has not made a decision about filing legal action, said McCann.

John Nelson, bay keeper for the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, said prosecution should be pursued.

"These people have been scofflaws,” he said. "They've pushed the limit.”

Nelson also thinks the DEQ's order to "cease and desist” should prohibit the raking activity that occurred this week. He said the inn is a violator, and work should not continue until the situation is "resolved.”