Posted on 09/17/2003 8:54:30 AM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
Landowner, militia vow armed defense of property
Wednesday, September 17, 2003By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
HORTON BAY -- On the surface, Lyle Barkley hardly seems the type to provoke an armed standoff.
At 55, the silver-haired, grandfatherly Charlevoix County excavator says he never has been in real trouble with the law. He does not advocate violence.
But as he leans by a sign on his property that says "Honk For Your Constitutional Rights," it becomes clear Barkley is ready for a fight.
"I don't want no bloodshed unless they shoot the first shot," Barkley said. "All I'm doing is standing up for my rights."
As if to underscore the point, Barkley stands just a few feet from a 6-foot-deep trench he dug on the perimeter of his land in the hill country about 10 miles southeast of Charlevoix.
Barkley says armed men from across the country are ready to occupy that trench to defend him, as he approaches a Thursday court deadline to remove three mobile homes he installed on his land.
In April, District Judge Richard May found that Barkley violated the zoning laws of Bay Township when he brought in the homes without permits. May reaffirmed that ruling Tuesday afternoon, denying a petition by Barkley to rescind his order.
The case has drawn widespread interest from local media outlets, not to mention radio talk shows from Arizona to Texas to Washington.
It also has attracted the scrutiny of patriot and anti-government groups, including a Colorado-based organization that threatens to send 600 armed members to protect Barkley.
Denver resident Rick Stanley, founder of the Second American Revolution Militia Mutual Defense Pact, vowed Barkley will not stand alone.
"They have subverted the intentions of what our forefathers say our government should be," he said. "We have a fascist tyranny.
"I call it the police state of America, and we are going to stop it one way or another," Stanley said.
On his Web site, Stanley warned about the consequences of the standoff with Newaygo County resident Scott Woodring, killed by state police in July after authorities tried to serve him with an arrest warrant that accused him of trying to solicit sex from 15-year-old girls.
Stanley said he got involved in the dispute when he was contacted by Barkley, a member of his group.
A statement faxed to The Press quotes Norman Olson, the self-described senior adviser to the Michigan Militia, saying the dispute "stinks of crooked politics, corruption and favors."
"I admire his spirit," Olson said of Barkley.
Charlevoix County Sheriff George Lasater said he is prepared to enforce the law. But he also said he hopes to avoid confrontation.
"We will do everything in our power and jurisdiction to make sure nobody is hurt on their side," Lasater said, adding, "the sheriff's department will do what it has to do to make sure the court orders are followed. We won't be intimidated by them."
Lasater would not say what action he might take if Barkley refuses to back down.
Township officials say they are doing nothing more than enforcing the law.
"This is a simple, blatant disregard for the law," township attorney James Murray said of Barkley's actions. "You can't just disregard ordinances."
According to the township, Barkley applied for a permit to build additions on to two mobile homes on his 4-acre property. Barkley instead moved two additional mobile units onto his property, attaching one to the mobile home in which he lives with his wife, Shirley, 50, and one to the mobile home where his daughter, Kim, 22, lives with her boyfriend and three children.
Judge May found that both homes violated building codes.
The court also found Barkley allowed people to move into another modular unit on the property without a permit.
To Barkley's way of thinking, he is just doing what every property owner has every right to do.
He has tangled with the township before. About 13 years ago, he was cited because of numerous barking dogs on his property. Barkley said he was acquitted.
About five years ago, he had a dispute over stumps he wanted to bury on his property. Barkley said that was resolved amicably.
He has had no criminal brushes with the law, felony or misdemeanor, according to state police records.
Barkley believes he is backed up in his latest dispute by his discovery that his property is "patent land," stemming from an 1871 act by President Ulysses S. Grant.
He said he has several weapons on his property, including a high-powered rifle and shotguns. He has plenty of ammunition.
"I myself am not going to be armed," Barkley said, adding he will leave that to others.
Barkley said he has had plenty of local support, including lots of honking horns in response to the sign in front of his driveway.
But standing on a deck on a bluff that overlooks Barkley's property, neighbor Carol Hellstrom said she backs the township.
"I have no sympathy for him whatsoever," Hellstrom said. "There's reasons for the laws. That's what this whole country is founded on."
Hellstrom's deck faces west, where she has a postcard view of Lake Charlevoix. But she's weary of looking down on Barkley's property, which is cluttered with old tractors, backhoes, numerous vehicles, a sizable wood pile, piles of discarded siding, old tires and rusted engines.
To her way of thinking, Barkley brought this on himself.
If things proceed toward showdown Thursday, Hellstrom said she is making plans of her own.
"We're having a kegger. You might as well enjoy the show."
It gets attention? Perhaps it's lacking in other parts of his life.
Lyle Barkley maintains that his property is "patent land" granted to the initial owner in 1871 by President U.S. Grant, and as such he has rights to do with his property as he wants, irrespective of zoning laws. But unlike many who hold patent land and dispute any governmental authority over it, Barkley said he does not challenge the right of government to tax his land.
"I pay my taxes," he said. "But Judge May called my personal property junk, and so I feel I don't have to pay taxes on junk."
Your basic black helicopter fearing kook.
From another article on this subject:
Charlevoix County Sheriff George T. Lasater said on one previous occasion in the county several years ago a half dozen armed members of a militia group did back a landowner, but the matter was settled peacefully.
The county backed down in this previous dispute. And guess who was there to help this man years ago? None other than the subject of this article, Lyle Barkley.
You must have missed the part in my post where it said that he had tried to talk to the township on what was needed to bring his current home up to code and they refused to talk to him.
Looking at the photo you included in your posting, I can't think of a place in the country that would permit it.
You are obviously not from the South. Here is a picture of the other home the township wants removed.
There are plenty of wealthy people in Petosky. And I have never seen the county allow them to nail a trailer to the side of their house and call it an addition.
All people ARE equal. And all people should obey the laws.
Why post such blatantly incorrect headline?
Sorry. I missed a semi-colon.
The title should have read:
Michigan: Militia and Landowner Vow Armed Defense of Property
Flying the flag was not breaking the law, a HoA does not have the weight of law and one can not recind their rights to free speech. In order for this to be breaking the law it would have to violate a local ordinance, or prove a substancial breech of contract (I doubt very much there are no people with 'butterfly' or other decirative things on their property).
Isn't it interesting that people who believe in the 10th Amendment GIVING STATES THEIR RIGHTS, also believe that local governments DO NOT have any rights.
No one took away the homeowners right to free speech. The HOA simply required that his "free speech" must hang from a flag pole attached to the house.
Zoning laws are not needed. They are but another way that government meddles in our affairs. Houston, TX the third largest city in the US has no zoning laws. Yet its development is not unlike that of any other urban city. To prevent unwanted development restrictive titles are used. This in affect has put the power back into the hands of landowners and has freed the city from having an expensive zoning department. Philadelphia is comparable in size to Houston. While Houston spends $0 on zoning Philadelphia spends $1.3 million a year just on the zoning department and another $1.2 billion a year on lawsuits.
How very thoughtfully deliberative of you, not to mention compassionate. At least you didn't jump to any harsh judgement of the guy based upon one article from a liberal trash-rag.
That would be funny if it were not all too often true.
Then, this being America, you are free to move somewhere that has no zoning laws.
I can give you some counties in Michigan you can move to. And if you have six or eight trailer homes to put on your one acre parcel, you should fit right in.
You might even be able to drain your toilet water into a nearby stream also.
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