Appeals run out in airport case
“Appeals have run out in an eminent domain case that resulted in court orders that the Lenawee County Airport buy an entire house at Lake Madison rather than just the air space above it.
The Michigan Supreme Court rejected a county motion to reconsider an order confirming lower court rulings that it buy the home of David and Barbara Wagley. The decision appears to be the final step in a legal struggle that began in 2005 over expansion of the airport runway.
Five homeowners at Lake Madison refused offers to purchase easements to airspace above their homes and demanded their entire property be purchased. The easements for a runway protection zone destroyed the value of the homes, their attorneys argued.
The Wagley case went to trial in 2012, with a Lenawee County Circuit Court jury ruling the county must purchase the entire house. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the jury decision in May last year and the state Supreme Court agreed in a Nov. 25 order.
In a decision dated Feb. 28, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected the county’s motion for reconsideration, “because it does not appear that the order was entered erroneously.””
Pelham, Dennis. Lens Connect 11 March 2014.