'Save Lakeside Woods' successfully buys land back from developer, instead creating nature preserve

CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP, Mich.-- A group of neighbors who call themselves "Save Lakeside Woods" successfully stopped a developer from building in the wooded part of their Chikaming Township neighborhood.

ABC57 first reported the fundraising efforts to buy back the land in September. Then, the group was fundraising the $1.2 million needed to purchase the 16 acres of Lakeside Woods.

Now, the efforts have paid off, the land is purchased and transferred to a land conservancy.

"The developer, at the end, said 'well played,'" said Tom Gold, president of Lakeside Neighbors Against Development, the corporation behind Save Lakeside Woods. "We got together, the neighborhood, we formed this group, and we were able to raise some money. It was $1.2 million that we raised to pay the developer and then we had administrative costs on top of that."

An out-of-state developer purchased 16 acres of Lakeside Woods, even clearing some trees, before he eventually relented to the pressures of the neighbors, ultimately agreeing to sell back the land.

"We live in this neighborhood, we love the neighborhood and the semi-rural feel of this neighborhood," Gold said. "And we didn't want this development here. It was going to be short-term rentals and would have been very disruptive to this neighborhood."

Gold says they successfully rescued what is largely wetland.

"The property has now been transferred to Chikaming Open Lands," Gold said.

"Our mission is land conservation," said Ryan Postema, Chikaming Open Lands executive director. "We acquire properties as nature preserves. We work with private landowners to protect property."

The nonprofit owns roughly 2,300 acres and operates 25 nature preserves in southern Berrien County.

"It's about preserving the natural rural character of our area, preserving the natural features, the forest, the wetlands," Postema said, "but also then about connecting people to nature."

Next up is developing a management plan for the site, he said, and then it's likely they'll create walking trails for the public and begin forest restoration.