EMPIRE —
A Leelanau County woman who cares for sick and injured raptors has won an initial round in her battle with county officials over a narrow, dirt road that leads to her home and bird rehabilitation facility.
Thirteenth Circuit Court Judge Thomas Power on Thursday approved a preliminary injunction that will at least temporarily prevent Leelanau County's Road Commission from opening a disputed two-track pathway to public traffic.
Empire resident Rebecca Lessard, who founded Wings of Wonder rehabilitation center, contends the county's efforts to make the two-track public puts her birds at risk and could lead to the facility's demise.
Lessard nurses owls, hawks, falcons and eagles and, if possible, returns them to the wild.
Her ordeal began when road commission workers placed a seasonal road sign along Gilbert Road, a two-track that leads into the woods and nudges close to where Lessard lives and maintains wild bird enclosures. Lessard contends Gilbert has always been a private road, and said she can prove it.
"When we bought the property we had to sign a private road agreement to maintain it on our own," Lessard said. "If the road commission is successful in making this a seasonal road it will shut me down because the raptors in rehabilitation can't be on public display or come in contact with the public. That is a mandate of our federal permit."
Complications began in 2007 when a neighbor prepared to have nearby property logged. To ease truck traffic the county improved a dirt two-track — Beeman Road — that connects to Gilbert Road in the forest behind Lessard's land.
"Gilbert Road is like most of the roads in Leelanau County that started as two-tracks," said Jim Johnson, road commission engineer.
The road never outgrew its original use and may not have been maintained by the county, but remains a county road, Johnson said.
Traverse City attorney Jeff Jocks represents Lessard and filed suit to request Gilbert be declared a non-public road. Power's decision means Lessard, for now, can again close her gate to traffic.
Johnson said he hopes a solution could be found to satisfy both Lessard and county road officials.
"We're willing to entertain discussions about whether the road can be moved away from her buildings," Johnson said.
Terrain and topography may present complications, so a solution won't necessarily be simple, he said.
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Related Photos
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Rebecca Lessard holds a 14-month-old great horned owl named Eoin. Leelanau County is trying to take ownership of what Rebecca Lessard says is a longtime private road that leads onto her property, where she operates Wings of Wonder. If the county claims the road and traffic increases, it will shut down her raptor rehabilitation business because the birds must be kept away from the public to be in compliance with a federal permit.
Bird facility wins initial round in clash over road
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