Order Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan
October 14, 2005 Clifford W. Taylor,
Chief Justice
127655-6 & (68) Michael F. Cavanagh
Elizabeth A. Weaver
Marilyn Kelly
PETOSKEY INVESTMENT GROUP, L.L.C., Maura D. Corrigan
Plaintiff-Appellee, Robert P. Young, Jr.
Stephen J. Markman,
Justices
v SC: 127655-6
COA: 246641, 248801
Emmet CC: 01-006542-CH
BEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP,
Defendant,
and
ZACHARY M. KUZNICKI,
Intervening Defendant-Appellant.
_________________________________________/
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the December 2, 2004
judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(G)(1), to
assist the Court in deciding whether to grant leave to appeal, we DIRECT the parties to
file supplemental briefs within 28 days of the date of this order addressing whether this
appeal has been rendered moot as a result of the settlement agreement reached, and the
consent judgment embodying same, in Petoskey Investment Group, L.L.C. v County of
Emmet, United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Case No. 504-
CV-59. The motion for leave to file brief amicus curiae remains under consideration.
WEAVER, J., dissents and states as follows:
I would grant leave to appeal. MCL 125.282 gives township electors the right to
petition for and hold a referendum on the promulgation of or an amendment to a zoning
ordinance. Whether this right to a referendum applies when a developer and a township
agree to be bound by a consent judgment that allows a use of land that is forbidden by the
zoning ordinance is a question of significance to the people of this state. Rather than
directing the parties to file supplemental briefs on the question of mootness, I would
grant leave to appeal now. And although the issue has not been argued to this Court, I
would not oppose inclusion of mootness among the issues to be addressed by the parties
and amicus.
I, Corbin R. Davis, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the
foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court.
October 14, 2005 _________________________________________
p1010 Clerk