Allegan County Circuit Judge Kevin Cronin will preside over an evidentiary hearing Monday on a restraining order to prohibit planes from flying at the old Martin air strip, where a developer plans to build a private air park near the corner of Kalamazoo Avenue and 144th Avenue in Leighton Township.
The judge earlier this month granted a temporary stay requested by Kate and James Scheltema, Mark and Melissa Ouwinga, David and Jane Zylstra, Doug and Michelle Wiltjer and Kenneth and Cheryl Kooistra, neighbors of the proposed air strip.
Clark Galloway of Excel Development LLC is developer of the proposed air park and his partner is Steve Deer, supervisor of Leighton Township, who has recused himself from any discussion of or decision on the issue. Neighbors of the project are working to stop it because of potential problems with noise and not fitting into the rural residential character of the area.
The nearby residents are appealing a decision rendered last month by Leighton Township Zoning Administrator Robert Jones of Professional Code Inspections of Dorr. He opined that the “old airstrip is a lawful nonconforming use and that its status has not been abandoned or forfeited.”
Mrs. Scheltema and her colleagues have attempted to have the air strip declared unlawful because they believe it had been abandoned by Bill and Rita Martin and had been a non-conforming use. She indicated she asked Jones to issue a temporary stay on flights at the strip while his decision was being appealed, but he had refused.
