Everything a Michigan litigator needs to evaluate this matter in one page — authorities verified, evidence indexed, fee-recovery path noted.
Pro se plaintiff · 7th Circuit (Genesee), Judge Elizabeth A. Kelly · Case 2026-63926-CZ · Complaint filed 7/7/26 · TRO denied 7/15 (“relief sought may be appropriate”) · PI hearing 7/27/26. Defendants: GCRC (Robert W. Backus), Wade Trim (engineer), Nashville Construction (contractor).
County cross-culvert discharges collected stormwater onto four private parcels in sequence (a “horseshoe” returning to the road ditch). 2026 reconstruction lowered the culvert, removed a west driveway culvert, left the west ditch unrestored. Contractor's corrective change orders were denied by the Road Commission. FEMA Zone X (FIRM 26049C0290D).
Documentary record spanning 2023–2026 (dated photos, video, maps); the defendants' own contractor proposed the fix in writing; recurring quantifiable damages; sympathetic facts (basement risk, crushed culvert, owner-funded mitigation); community support (13+ households).
Dominant owner may not increase and concentrate volume/velocity onto the servient estate.
Wiggins v City of Burton, 291 Mich App 532 (2011) (quoting Lewallen v City of Niles; Kernen v Homestead Dev Co); Gregory v Bush, 64 Mich 37 (1887)“Beyond dispute” that causing excess water onto another's land is trespass.
Herro v Chippewa Co Rd Comm'rs, quoted in Wiggins; Adams v Cleveland-Cliffs Iron CoDeliberate public-improvement decisions directing water at specific parcels; substantial cause of value decline.
Peterman v DNR, 446 Mich 177 (1994); Hart v Detroit, 416 Mich 488 (1982); Hinojosa v DNR, 263 Mich App 537 (2004); Mich Const 1963, art 10, §2Trespass-nuisance damages route closed by Pohutski; constitutional taking and equitable relief remain.
Pohutski v City of Allen Park, 465 Mich 675 (2002)Four factors; particularized, non-speculative irreparable harm; final-lift “lock-in” theory.
MCR 3.310; Detroit Fire Fighters Ass'n v Detroit, 482 Mich 18 (2008); Pontiac Fire Fighters, 482 Mich 1 (2008)MCL 213.66 permits recovery of reasonable attorney fees in inverse-condemnation actions — this matter can support a contingency or deferred engagement.
Full record available: dated photo library (2023–2026), two published videos, annotated aerial and parcel maps, FEMA/floodplain documentation, community petition, and all filings.
To discuss the case: Jason Ballantyne · (248) 719-3842 · jason.morgan.ballantyne@gmail.com