New Questions Surface in Straus Fence Debate
By Leslie Rott

The proposed construction of a fence on public property in Hubbard's Annex by Fran and Lorna Straus has raised new questions about just where the city property boundary lines are and a new city survey has been ordered.

The Strauses have asked to build a fence on city property, but the city has been hesitant to allow encroachment on the right-of-way used for the city street. Part of the problem centers around a 100-foot road right-of-way noted on the city plat map.

City attorney Tom Evashevski told the city's Streets and Sidewalks Committee Thursday, May 18, that he feels the right-of-way may be 66 feet, centered on the existing road, based on highway-byuser concepts, leaving 34 feet, or approximately 17 feet on either side, questionable as to the actual owner. For the city to claim the road, Mr. Evashevski said, the roadway would have to be used and funded by the public for 10 years, which is known as highway by-user.

It came to the city's attention, however, that the center line of the road may not actually be dead center, and that certain areas of any given property in the Annex could have four potential owners, the City of Mackinac Island, an adjacent property owner, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, and the common areas platted in Hubbard's Annex, monitored by the Hubbard's Annex Homeowners Association.

As for the state park boundaries, noted Mackinac Island State Park Commission Director Phil Porter, "We know quite specifically" where they are.

Mr. Porter told the Town Crier that the Commission owns two lots in the Annex, but no longer holds ownership of any of the roads in that area.

The 17 feet is being called "no man's land" by Mr. Evashevski, since there are so many potential owners.

"Somebody has to own it," said the city zoning administrator, Dennis Dombroski. "If it's not publicly owned, then it has to be owned privately by somebody."

The decision was made to have the Annex surveyed, and if it is found that the proposed fence would be built on city property, the Streets and Sidewalks Committee and then City Council would have to decide whether to permit it.

"We can't debate anything if we don't know anything," committee member Mike Hart said, in regard to the question of where one property line ends and the other begins.

The question of property lines in the Straus issue could have significant ramifications on any future development.

We need a real solid determination on where the public roads are," Mr. Hart said.

If the proposed fence is being built on Annex property, it would first have to be proposed to the Annex Association and approved by every homeowner in the Annex. It would then have to be brought to the Planning Commission, since a fence is considered a structure, which requires architectural review and a zoning permit before it is erected.