TRAVERSE CITY -- City officials could move a step closer to ending a long-running legal dispute over the expansion of swim areas on Grand Traverse Bay.
Commissioners at their Monday meeting are expected to discuss a potential settlement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, though they likely won't finalize a deal. City attorney Karrie Zeits said a recent settlement offer from the state needs to be fleshed out.
"There are a lot of details that aren't there that would need to be discussed," Zeits said.
State officials rejected city efforts to expand swim areas this year, so the city appealed in court. Thirteenth Circuit Judge Thomas Power recently ruled the city has the right to expand the swim zones, though the state has the right to appeal his decision.
Officials with the DNR and state attorney general's office wouldn't provide details of a potential settlement or say if the state plans to appeal Power's ruling.
Two state-approved, 400-foot swim zones exist on either side of the city-owned marina. City officials requested one boat-free zone be nearly doubled and the other more than doubled.
