Commentary on Gamble Testimony
Transcripts of the Gambles Testimony during the Shelton vs. Powell Township and Light House Three Inc trial. (January, 2007)
Affidavit September 5, 2006: Temporary Injunction Granted to prevent Powell Township Planning Commission public hearing for Conditional Use Permit for Lighthouse III, Inc. Site Condominium Project, including Affidavits by Alan K. Pierce, L.L.S, Licensed Surveyor, Survey Manager, ECI of Ishpeming and Jerry Grenman, Powell Township Planning Commission Chairman, 1990 - 1998
Al Pierce's Presentation to June 6th planning commision meeting
Dated April 29, Received April 13, Attached support email dated May 13, Lighthouse Three, Inc. submits Petition for Amendment of Zoning Ordinance Map, requesting rezoning of "less than an acre". Actual survey indicates it is approximately 3.8 acres.
Timeline of events
Letters from Adjacent, Nearby, or Local Property Owners - These are only a few!
Petition of 55 Neighboring Landowners on Lighthouse Road with the additional page from Dan Hales
Petition of Local Residents Against Rezoning
Keepers Korner Article on Big Bay in Sept. 2006 edition of Lighthouse Digest
Original CUP Application and Township Announcement September 10, 2004 - Jeff Gamble files Conditional Use permit application for 12 Unit Site Condominium, Zoning Districts LS/R and RR-5. Property IDs top right corner, which are also referenced on the Township announcement last page: first is Lighthouse Three, Inc. (Jeff and Linda Gamble, and Vice President John Gale, resident of Illinois). The last two property IDs listed belong to Dan Hales. Mr. Hales was surprised to hear that his properties were included in the conditional use permit application. Mr. Hales is against the development.
August 22nd Mining Journal Response
Septic Permit Application Does NOT Support Powell Township Comprehensive Plan Sections 10.4 and 10.3
Preliminary Septic Evaluation - Issues & Recommendations
HistReg Original Historical registration information submitted by previous Keeper Mr. Norman "Buck" Gotschall, when the buildings and 53 acres received National and State Historic Site recognition in 1988
[News Flash] Letter to the Township from the Michigan Historic Preservation Network. Letter
[News Flash] Letter from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office. Letter
The National Register of Historic Places is the nation's list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. The national register is a program of the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior. In Michigan, the State Historic Preservation Office, part of the Michigan Historical Center, administers the program.
Michigan's Historic Sites include the Big Bay Point Light Station, a beautiful well-preserved, late nineteenth-century light station facility which achieved both National and State Register listing in 1988. What made the Big Bay Point Lighthouse one of the most unique lighthouses in the world was the fact that it held 50 acres and one half mile of Lake Superior frontage, providing incredible respite for visiting lighthouse and nature enthusiasts from around the world.
The Big Bay Point Light Station consists of an attached brick light tower and keepers' dwelling plus subsidiary structures-- most of them built in 1896 and 1897-- perched atop a sixty-foot high rocky bluff overlooking Lake Superior at Big Bay Point. The primary building of the former light station complex, the keepers' dwelling/light tower, consists of a flattened, T-shaped, cross-gable roof, two-story brick dwelling with a square-plan light tower at its rear (lake) side. The tower stands about forty-five feet in height. A round steel plate watch room and lantern crown the brick tower.
The Big Bay Point Light Station has significance as a well-preserved, late nineteenth-century light station facility retaining very much intact its original property and buildings. In 1892 the Lighthouse Board recommended the establishment of a light station at the Point because "it . . . occupies a position midway between Granite Island and Huron Island, the distance in each case between fifteen and eighteen miles. These two lights are invisible to one another and the intervening stretch is unlighted. A light and fog signal would be a protection to steamers engaged in passing between these two points. . . ."
Work on the station began in June 1896 and the light was first exhibited on the evening of October 20, 1896. Big Bay Point Light Station continued in operation until 1961, when the Coast Guard built a new light tower elsewhere and sold the facility. The former light station was converted for use as a summer home in 1961. As of 1988 the former Big Bay Point Light Station houses a private residence and a five room bed-and-breakfast inn.
Unfortunately, the current developers are attempting to subdivide the pristine, natural and beautiful acreage on which the lighthouse sits, into a 12-parcel "site condominium", proposing tree removal, and requiring, among other new, multiple structures, a complicated wastewater collection and treatment system including eleven 1,000 gallon septic tanks, two 4,000 gallon septic tanks, a gravity sewer main with shut-off valves and manhole covers running through the favorite local deer feeding grounds, multiple pumps, and a 10,000 square foot elevated absorption field.
This is in contrast to other "Keepers" who are seeking grants and public support, leading efforts in Lighthouse Preservation and Historical associations to preserve and protect their lighthouses.
If you are interested in preventing the transformation of the Big Bay Point Light Station, one of the nation's Historic Sites, into a "Lighthouse Point Condominium", Show your support and fill out the Contact Form.
Send a letter to the Powell Township Zoning Board: Form Letter
Questions? Please send an email to info@savebigbaylh.org
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