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03/11/2007Hotel is sorry, but balks on repairsEast Bay beach was bulldozed last November
A bulldozer moves soil behind the Cherry Tree Inn in November 2006. TRAVERSE CITY — The owners of the Cherry Tree Inn and Suites offered state and federal regulators "sincere apologies” for bulldozing Grand Traverse Bay wetlands. But apologies aside, hotel owner Omni Hospitality of Medina, Ohio, wants regulators to let stand 95 percent of their bulldozer's work. A beach restoration plan submitted by Omni's Columbus, Ohio-based engineering firm proposes to reseed just a fraction — .08 acres — of the 1.6 acres the company admits it improperly bulldozed in late November, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers documents obtained by the Record-Eagle. The plan also proposes to reseed another third of an acre Omni contends wasn't disturbed when it sent heavy equipment into the bay without permits. The Cherry Tree Inn is located north of Traverse City off U.S. 31 in a corner of the bay identified as a natural wetlands area. The Army Corps of Engineers rejected Omni's plan and asked to meet with the owners to discuss lake bottom restoration. "If they're willing to work with us and repair and mitigate the damage, that's what we are looking for more than anything else,” said Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Lynn Duerod. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality also rejected the plan, but referred the case to its criminal division and the Michigan Attorney General for possible criminal prosecution, said DEQ spokesman Bob McCann. "We're obviously concerned that this is not the first time and something needs to happen to make sure it doesn't occur again,” McCann said. Omni attorney Joseph Quandt, of Traverse City, acknowledged that criminal prosecution is possible and the company will respond as the case unfolds. An Army Corps report details its site inspection two days after the Thanksgiving weekend bulldozing. Inspectors found well-defined tracks from machinery that extended 122 feet into the bay. The report said the work occurred without authorization and involved grading and discharging dredged material into the waters of Lake Michigan and adjacent wetlands. Photographs and video taken by bystanders showed bulldozing, including machinery in the bay, but Omni's consultant, Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc., said no more than two inches of top sand was disturbed and contended there were no "significant ecological impacts” for 95 percent of the disturbed area. "They hired a Columbus engineering firm; what do they know about Grand Traverse Bay?” said John Nelson, Bay Keeper for the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay. Quandt said he wasn't surprised Omni's first mitigation plan was rejected, but said his client is ready to work with the DEQ and Army Corps on a new plan that will be "mutually satisfactory” to all parties. Nelson said the affected area needs to be restored and the Watershed Center wants "significant” penalties and severe limitations on any future site work. "This is a rare and unique coastal marsh and we don't have many like these in Grand Traverse Bay,” he said. The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians also weighed in. The Band asked that fines and penalties be levied against Omni Hospitality that are "commensurate with the wholesale destruction of a resource held in public trust.” "Given the history of violations at this location perpetrated by the prior owner and the subversive and malicious manner in which the current owner has carried out this latest assault on the public trust ... fines are necessary to dissuade potential scofflaws from carrying out similar activities in the future,” wrote Suzanne McSawby, director of the Grand Traverse Band Natural Resources Department. Quandt said he fully expects to see a penalty assessed. "I don't think that will be a surprise to anybody,” he said.
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