Bay View Association, a United Methodist heritage community near Petoskey, Mich., has reached settlements in all three longstanding religious discrimination lawsuits pending against the Chautauqua-style resort.
Bay View Association Photo
Bay View Association
According to Petoskey News-Review reporter William T. Perkins, who has been following the two-year-long dispute, two private lawsuits filed by a group of residents called the Bay View Chautauqua Inclusiveness Group and an additional suit filed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on behalf of residents have all been settled.
However, details are mostly unknown aside from a press release the parties issued May 10, Mr. Perkins writes. The statement reads:
“The complaints filed with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the private lawsuits involving Bay View’s membership requirements have been resolved after a healthy and productive exchange and mutual demonstration of goodwill. In the settlement, Bay View has committed to nondiscrimination while continuing true to its identity and heritage.”
Mr. Perkins writes that "the statement notes that 'until final documents are signed, there will be no further comment.' As of the News-Review’s Monday afternoon deadline, there was no official documentation in the U.S. court database system regarding the settlement," his article said.
Bay View, founded in 1875 east of Petoskey, has close historic ties to the Michigan Annual Conference, but isn't under direct church authority. The dispute began when non-Christian heirs of a Bay View resident sought to take over the deceased's property and were refused because the community's by-laws at the time required all owners to be Christians.