HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A dispute over a barn in Huron Township is now being sorted out in the courtroom.
This pole barn is at the center of frustrations for homeowner Keith Fritz, who lives just next door. After years of conversations with the township, he’s decided to take legal action.
Fritz Complaint by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd
“We’re where we’re at today because of the lack of response from the township to address the issues,” said Fritz.
Fritz and his wife moved to the township 30 years ago in search of peace and space and built their current home.
“We were hoping it's going to be our permanent residence forever and ever,” said Fritz.
Fritz says the past few years have been anything but, with his yard constantly flooded with water and dealing with noise.
“It’s like living next door to a 7-Eleven in the summertime. I did not move out here for that,” said Fritz.
He says problems started with the removal of topsoil next door and the building of the pole barn.
“In spring, it was wet back there but we’ve never had ... I’m getting 8 inches of water on the back of my property now,” said Fritz.
He says the ditch created and trees put in place to mitigate flooding haven’t stopped it.
Fritz says he started making complaints to the township in 2021.
The township amended an ordinance to prohibit certain businesses such as commercial landscaping in 2022, but his neighbors were grandfathered in and granted a building permit in 2023.
In his lawsuit, Fritz's lawyer argues it should have never happened as a “non conforming use business”.
“It's larger than the occupant's house, and it is being used as a commercial lawn business, which goes against the township's ordinances,” he said.
All concerns he says he brought up before the structure was built.
“We tried. I went to two township board meetings, the first one with the last administration, begging for help. I've begged the operations manager, the zoning, the planning commissioner and the ordinance officer, pleading with them for help to rectify this. No response,” said Fritz.
It's led him to file the lawsuit, suing township trustees along with his neighbors for what he feels is a nuisance, claiming officials haven’t been following their own ordinances.
In one of the trustee's responses to the lawsuit, they neither admit nor deny the allegations and request the suit be moved to federal court.
“My thought was, my hope was, my dream was, is that the township would protect me as a resident, which they have not done. Now, they got a big problem on their hands, and they don't have any way to solve it,” said Fritz.
7 News Detroit reached out to the township to find out their response to his allegations and received this response from Cristin L. Colling, Deputy Supervisor, Public Information Officer designee for Huron Charter Township:
“We take all litigation against the Township very seriously. Currently, we are working closely with our attorneys to review and understand the full scope of Mr. Fritz’s complaints. As new information becomes available, we will share updates for informational purposes. However, at this time, neither I nor anyone in the Township can provide further comment.”
Fritz's next-door neighbors have declined to comment.
“I have nothing against the neighbors. They're nice people. They tried and got away with what they could. I don't blame them for that. I put the blame solely on the township,” said Fritz.
Fritz’s hope is that the lawsuit will lead to the barn coming down and the township paying up.
“We're just kind of in limbo, wait and see what's going to happen,” said Fritz.
