Judge: Settlement in Meijer-Acme Township lawsuit

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- A judge in Grand Traverse County says a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit between Meijer Inc. and Acme Township officials over a long-delayed superstore project.

Three township trustees and two township planning commissioners are suing Meijer, a law firm and local developers. They contend the Grand Rapids-based retail chain harmed them with a frivolous suit and illegal campaign activity.

The proposed development near Traverse City has bitterly divided the township. The state of Michigan fined Meijer more than $190,000 last year for violating campaign laws as it tried to win local support for the big-box store.

In an order signed Thursday, Circuit Judge Philip Rodgers said attorneys for all sides had resolved their differences and that final details would be ironed out within 60 days.

"The acknowledged settlement closes the case," Rodgers said. "The court retains jurisdiction to enforce the settlement."

The purported deal has not been filed and no details were available. Messages seeking comment were left with Meijer, the local officials and attorneys in the case, who either declined comment or did not respond.

Aside from Meijer, the local officials' suit targeted Village at Grand Traverse LLC, a development partnership, and the Grand Rapids law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC.

The tangled dispute goes back many years in Acme Township, a community of about 4,500 just northeast of Traverse City.

Dotted with fruit orchards and open pastures, Acme has experienced tensions familiar to many historically rural areas dealing with encroaching urban sprawl. Subdivisions, shops and other businesses have sprung up, mostly near the eastern arm of Grand Traverse Bay.

Meijer, which has more than 180 stores in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, bought property in the township in 1990 and announced plans to build a superstore in 2001. The company and local supporters have clashed repeatedly with opponents, some who opposed any big-box stores in the area and others who objected to specific features of Meijer plans.

In May 2008, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land levied more than $190,000 in fines against Meijer after an investigation showed the company had financially supported an effort to recall seven Acme officials who objected to the superstore development.

Land also said the company had not filed required reports of its spending on a 2005 ballot initiative that narrowly overturned a local moratorium on big-box store construction.

The dispute has ignited a series of back-and-forth litigation.

Meijer sued the township officials, but dropped the suits in November 2007 in exchange for the officials' promise not to sue the company. But after Meijer's involvement in the local referendums came to light, the township officials went forward with their suits.

The agreement announced by Rodgers does not affect a separate case filed by Bill Boltres, a former township treasurer, the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported. Boltres is suing the Village at Grand Traverse LLC, which wanted to build a mixed-use business center including a Meijer store.