A long-running legal dispute over a one-third-acre lakefront property surrounded by a public park has reached a key stage. A state appeals court has ruled that local officials can take the land using their legal powers to acquire private property. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that allows Kalamazoo County to take ownership of the residential cottage at 1739 East U Avenue in Vicksburg. The property sits on the shore of Gourdneck Lake and is completely surrounded by Prairie View County Park. According to court records in case number 367503, County of Kalamazoo v James Berry, a three-judge panel upheld the lower court's decision. The panel included Presiding Judge Elizabeth L. Wallace, Judge Thomas C. Cameron and Judge Sima G. Korobkin. The judges found that county officials had met the legal requirements set out in Michigan's Uniform Condemnation Procedures Act. The ruling allows county officials to move ahead with adding the privately owned plot to the surrounding park. It also brings a property dispute that has lasted for decades closer to a resolution.
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