Amid dispute over docks outside Jackson, township to talk lakefront rights

Amid a dispute over boats and docks on Big Wolf Lake, Napoleon Township in Michigan announced a special Monday meeting to address riparian rights, road ends, and property taxes. The session is scheduled for 6 p.m. July 13 at the township building, with Supervisor Dan Wymer confirming the date on July 7. It targets property owners in Oak Point on the southwest side of the lake and other interested residents, and it follows more than a month after some lake users received “cease and desist” letters about docks at road ends. The agenda includes public information on ownership of the lake bottom, which the notice says does not belong to the township. The city of Jackson has owned the lake bottom since the early 1900s but recently agreed to grant township officials enforcement authority of applicable Napoleon ordinances, including docking and mooring regulations. Residents cite an earlier Michigan Supreme Court decision from 1985 involving access rights tied to lake pathways rather than exclusive frontage.