Michigan appeals court upholds airport's tree-cutting order on private land

While a patch of woods can offer privacy, natural beauty and a sense of isolation, property ownership near a major airport comes with restrictions that can reach well above ground level. The height of trees on one Michigan homeowner’s property became the basis of a long legal battle against the authority that operates Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Nearly three decades after buying the land, she suffered a major blow to her court battle when an appellate decision allowed the airport authority to enforce aviation safety restrictions.A dispute over property with roots in aviation safetyAccording to the Michigan Court of Appeals, Michelle Baldwin bought a wooded property in 1997 on Vining Road, south of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. To the north was property owned by the Wayne County Airport Authority.

The dispute began after the Joint Airport Zoning Commission for Wayne and Washtenaw Counties approved an airport zoning ordinance in July 2016.