KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo County attorneys have dropped a lawsuit after seeking condemnation against a cottage in Prairie View Park.
The county has been seeking to claim Johnson-Talanda Cottage and the encompassing one-third acre property for years before seeking condemnation in March.
Levine & Levine, the law firm representing the cottage’s owners, says county attorneys have agreed to pay $55,000 in legal fees that owners of the Johnson-Talanda Cottage accrued while trying to maintain ownership of the cottage and the land.
Defense attorneys note the county may be permitted to issue another complaint for condemnation later on.
“The county will not respond to FOIA requests regarding legal fees already incurred during the process leading up to and filing the condemnation complaint,” says Levine. “Reasonable estimates exceed $500,000 since they started the quest to take the cottage from the families. If they remain unwilling to negotiate a settlement, the case is likely to cost well in excess of $1 million, if the county were to win.”
Levine adds the county would be obligated to pay the family’s legal fees again — estimated to range in the hundreds of thousands — if it ends up losing its condemnation suit.
The Kalamazoo County government released the following statement:
“Kalamazoo County continues to pursue its plan to acquire the landlocked cottage property located within Prairie View County Park. Unfortunately, this week the Complaint for Condemnation had to be voluntarily dismissed in order to correct a legal technicality at no cost to Kalamazoo County. The law firm Cohl, Stoker & Toskey, which is representing the County, inadvertently failed to include notice to the property owners regarding the County’s position on reservation of hazardous waste cost recovery rights in the Good Faith Offer dated January 18, 2022. The voluntary dismissal was agreed to by all parties involved and Cohl, Stoker & Toskey covered all legal fees associated with this omission. Kalamazoo County is not paying the legal fees. The Good Faith Offer will be revised, and the County will resume the legal process of acquiring the landlocked cottage property located within Prairie View County Park. The County has responded to all FOIA requests for legal representation invoices, which were fulfilled.”
READ MORE: Kalamazoo County votes to acquire family cottage, incorporate property into Prairie View County Park
