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February 7, 2006Developers buy back at least one lavish homeNegotiations with others may be ongoingPETOSKEY - Bay Harbor developers reacquired at least one home because of environmental contamination in the resort and have negotiated with other property owners about compensation.Myron Patten, a Bay Harbor landowner for more than five years, said he sold his vacation home back to developers after toxins from a former cement operation seeped onto his property. Patten said his house on Coastal Ridge Drive, appraised at more than $750,000, went back to CMS Land, a subsidiary of CMS Energy. CMS was an initial partner and primary financier in the plush development west of Petoskey on Little Traverse Bay. "We worked out an arrangement where they took it over," Patten said. "We decided to relocate someplace else in Bay Harbor." The Pattens got a condominium elsewhere in the resort. Patten did not disclose specifics and county equalization records have not been updated to show any sale. It was a recent agreement, said Patten, who also owns homes in California and Nevada. Flanked by Lake Michigan on one side and Bay Harbor Golf Club on the other, Coastal Ridge Drive is a hotbed for contamination because of a nearby buried "pile" of cement kiln dust. By agreement with the state, the caustic dust, a byproduct of the cement operation, was to be contained when the development was built in the mid-1990s. A few years ago, seepage from the buried piles was found leaching into the surrounding areas. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing a cleanup. CMS, though no longer a partner, is footing the remediation bill, expected to top $50 million. Richard Franks, who owns two lots near Patten's former house, sued Bay Harbor and CMS in October. "We did have discussions with CMS (about compensation), but the discussions broke down and that's when we decided to go to court," said Steve Weiss, Franks' attorney in the Emmet County civil suit. "It's my understanding that other homeowners have pursued discussions with CMS. Some may be resolved and some may still be resolving." Weiss would not disclose specifics about the negotiations, citing confidentiality. CMS spokesman Tim Petrosky could not be reached for comment Monday. Franks' lawsuit asserts he did not know about cement kiln dust on the site when he bought his lot in 2001. It accuses CMS and developer David V. Johnson of conspiring to keep the contamination secret. In court papers, attorneys for CMS and Johnson said information was provided. "There was a very whitewashing type of small, one-line comment that did not nearly disclose all the pertinent information," Weiss said, adding that his clients are "frustrated" and are putting their summer house up for sale. They have no plans to use it this year. Not all Coastal Ridge residents are ready to throw in their beach towels. Jeffrey Modell's home, next door to the Franks, is in the final phases of construction. This summer will be his family's first in it. He has no plans to file a lawsuit because he thinks the early stages of the cleanup are being handled well. "That doesn't mean that people aren't unhappy, and it doesn't mean people don't have the right to be unhappy." he said, adding that he still likes Bay Harbor. "It's a great development. If you offered me a lot in an unimpacted area, I would jump at it." But would he buy Coastal Ridge Drive property today? "I would have preferred to avoid the difficulties ... it's been stressful," he said. See related stories:
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