Nonprofit Seeks To Block Torch Lake Sandbar Parties

CLEARWATER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - A nonprofit promoting preservation of northern Michigan's Torch Lake is seeking to prevent sandbar parties.

The Torch Lake Protection Alliance has filed a lawsuit alleging party promoters created a nuisance when hosting Fourth of July festivities last year, according to a report in The Grand Rapids Press. An estimated 10,000 people attended the gathering.

The suit was filed in Kalkaska County Circuit Court. It asks that the court bar the defendants from hosting and promoting sandbar parties, or not allow gatherings without permits.

Nonprofit president Greg Payne said in a release that property owners aren't opposed to boaters enjoying the sandbar. But he said that promotion of the sandbar for the Fourth of July has led to "an overwhelming influx of people walking onto the sandbar without providing for the cost of public safety, sanitation and trash collection."

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