| the fairway that showed people when they were teeing off where the center |
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| line was. He said that the cone of playability would start at the right side of |
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| the water and the left side of the hole. That meant that the 350 feet went |
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| well beyond the property line and even well beyond the units themselves, |
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| especially the first three or four units. When he expressed his concern, it |
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| was his understanding that the applicants would try to redesign and come |
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| back. The plan nine months later had not substantially changed in any |
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| way. Instead of trying to redesign it and take safety concerns into |
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| account, the applicants sought an architect they felt could allay the |
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| Commission’s concerns about safety. He thought that Mr. Wilczynski’s |
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| letter was aptly refuted, and he believed that if Mr. Staran had seen the |
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| second letter, he might not feel quite as cavalier about the City not having |
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| any liability. Mr. Bylen felt that the entire development needed to be |
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| replanned, and it needed to be redesigned taking into consideration the |
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| very real safety concerns that existed. He claimed that it was not a matter |
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| of if - it was when. When he and Mr. Gesuale stood out there, not even for |
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| five minutes, someone teed off at number 11 and hit it right into the area |
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| where the units would be. Mr. Bylen’s superintendent, who was one of the |
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| quietest people he knew, said that it just hit unit two. On a busy day, there |
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| might be 30-40 balls that went over there. He said that he tried to buy that |
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| land when they developed the golf course. When they leased the land, |
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| they had 193 acres, and they were told by the City that there was 30 acres |
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| of wetlands. The DNR said there were 63. They did 11 routings to do the |
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| course, and his architects remembered very well how difficult the project |
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| was to design. They needed extra land, and they sought the land to the |
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| west of the driveway, and the owners did not want to sell. They sought the |
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| land from Mr. Eldon, and they were told the majority of the land was |
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| wetland, and they did not need any more wetlands. If the project went |
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| through as designed, he was very certain that there would be injury. He |
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| was very certain that the City was accepting a risk that went beyond settled |
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| case law. There was some positive case law in Michigan for golf courses |
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| and against people in those areas. He thought that in this particular case, |
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| the safety zone was so clearly beyond the property line that the City would |
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| be accepting a risk. He indicated that the applicants would develop the |
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| property and say “buyer beware.” He said that was fine for them, but the |
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| City, its residents and its attorney would be dealing with it for a long time. |
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| He stated that without a doubt, it was a dangerous situation. He was |
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| asking that it not be approved as designed. Staff should get the counsel |
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| of the original architect and architects who were world renown with a great |
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| deal of experience. They would be happy to talk with Staff and Mr. |
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| Gesuale and his architect, so the project could be designed that still met |
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| their needs but also incorporated safety. He reiterated that he was not |
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| asking for the project to go away, and he was happy it was being |
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| developed. He was just opposed to the way it was currently laid out. |
|
