There’s something wrong in Union Charter Township: Part I

The Mackinac Center has spent years challenging government overreach, but it’s rare to find a local government that continually hinders growth. Unfortunately, Union Charter Township, located in Mid-Michigan’s Isabella County, is one such entity.

The Mackinac Center received a tip from concerned citizens accusing the township of micromanagement and an anti-growth mentality, and we spent months investigating. We found that a few powerful staff members appear to be thwarting investment and its related growth in short-sighted and unnecessary ways. The township board should take a more active role in overseeing its employees, including, if necessary, removing and replacing problematic workers.

We interviewed eight former local government officials and 13 business owners, managers or investors. All expressed concerns, if not deep objections, about how the township is run. Each believed that the township’s approach to new developments harms the community’s current and future growth.

Though these individuals came from different backgrounds, they expressed some consistent themes. Chief among these was the opinion that a few full-time township employees regularly impose unnecessary, expensive and seemingly irrational requirements for proposed developments, hindering growth.

Interviewees regularly cited several problems, including foot-dragging responses to simple questions or requests for permit approvals. We had three conversations with different project leaders who told us officials micromanaged landscaping in ways that are unnecessary and cause excessive delays. These local sources also told us that the township insisted they install expensive sidewalks that, due to their location, don’t or can’t go anywhere.

A widespread fear of retaliation by township officials hinders the local community. Many of the officials, entrepreneurs and investors we spoke to requested anonymity. They work in the township and fear that sharing their identities would mean delayed approvals for permits and other documents.

Doug Labelle, a former Charter Union Township planning commissioner, resigned in frustration in May over the township’s micromanagement of developers and ordinary citizens. He even arranged for residents and developers to air their concerns directly with township officials. But nothing about the management there has changed, according to Labelle. “There are numerous people leaving the township for other areas that are more amenable.” Labelle wrote in a 2023 email to Township Manager Mark Stuhldreher. “[They] are going elsewhere due to these ongoing difficulties.”

While some businesses have sued the township over this treatment, they have done so at considerable expense. A 2018 lawsuit filed by Lux Family Properties argued that the township had “required and assessed taxes disguised as sewer connection fees and water benefit fees totaling $18,625.”

According to the lawsuit, Lux paid the bill in protest because it knew the township could use “withholding of building permits as a mechanism to require Plaintiff’s payment of the disputed fees.” It also argued that the township was imposing fees as “an attempt to raise capital for improvement based on assumptions regarding the future use of the sewer or water system, and without any indication that the fees will ever be used in a manner to benefit the plaintiff.”

High and questionable fees and other costs imposed on builders and entrepreneurs were a consistent theme in our interviews with local businesses and others.

The Lux case was settled out of court in favor of the plaintiff, but the company owner told us it will take him 20 years to recoup his legal fees. Others have acquiesced to the township’s demands rather than face expensive legal battles. Still others have walked away from projects they had hoped to develop in the township.

When asked for comment via email, a township official responded, “The Township Administration does not engage in foot-dragging or stifle or stymie land development. The allegation of possible retribution is abhorrent and false. The Township Administration strives to ensure that all who interact with staff are treated with respect and with a focus on a successful outcome for any issue or challenge that needs resolution.”

What is the solution? Elected trustees need to step up, township residents say. The trustees are elected in part to oversee the work of their full-time employees. If those employees thwart local economic growth by error or unnecessary demands on investors, they must be stopped. The impact of not doing so is great: stillborn projects, less wealth and frustrated residents. Precious tax resources become smaller due to stunted growth in property values and the cost of defending the township from lawsuits.

Next week the Mackinac Center will continue the story of Union Township’s mismanagement, including its employees’ micromanagement of residents and businesses. Township employees are prepared to make property owners dance to the tune they call, right up to effectively reducing landowners’ property value to zero.