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(M-119).3 Its western edge is a crooked line abutting Lake
Michigan. Lake Michigan cannot be seen through the property from
M-119 because many large trees and dense foliage grow throughout
much of the property. Included among the trees on the property
is a plantation of large (approximately 100-foot) old growth
original white pine trees.
A portion of the property that generally includes the
property’s total width and extends approximately 900 feet from
M-119 is relatively flat and is generally open, grassy, and well
lawned around petitioners’ home and wooded and bushy in other
places, especially along M-119. The rest of the property
(approximately 155 feet in depth and 460 feet in width) slopes
down a steep bluff at an angle of about 100 degrees to the
shoreline of Lake Michigan or, more specifically, to Lake
Michigan’s ordinary high water mark.4 The bluff is approximately
100 feet high, and a stairway goes down it to the shoreline. The
shoreline is level and consists of rocks, sand, grass, and weeds.
3 M-119 is a blacktop highway from Harbor Springs to Cross
Village that is called the “tunnel of trees” because of its
narrowness and the degree of growth near its shoulderless edges.
The side of M-119 closest to Lake Michigan has primarily
residential dwellings ranging in style from basic summer cottages
to elaborate year-round homes. The opposite side of M-119 has
undeveloped land.
4 Lake Michigan’s high water mark is 582.35 feet above sea
level. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers set Lake Michigan’s
ordinary high water mark at approximately 581 feet above sea
level.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011