KEWEENAW COUNTY — At its regular monthly meeting on Jan. 9, the Keweenaw County Road Commission approved a petition to abandon the right of way of a strip of Front Street, in Eagle River, with conditions, said Greg Kingstrom, KCRC engineer and general manager.

The conditions are that approval is also needed from Houghton Township and Keweenaw County Zoning Department. Once those conditions are satisified, said Kingstrom, the KCRC will execute the abandonment proceedings. The abandonment is not all-inclusive, however.

“We’re not abandoning the entire street,” Kingstrom said, “just a narrow strip along the north edge of the right of way, which is the narrow strip along the existing building. Just along the property line.”

The petition stems from June 2022 when LaMotte, who owns Fitzgerald’s hotel and restaurant, locally referred to as The Fitz, began construction of an addition to their building, located on Front Street.

The Keweenaw County building inspector Eric Bjorn visited the site July 12 to inspect the footings. No issues were raised by Bjorn during his inspection of the project, LaMotte’s statement reads. The inspection was focused on the foundation of the project. During Bjorn’s inspection, the footprint of the project was visible and tangible, but no issues or concerns were raised in relation to any potential encroachment into the Front Street right of way.

In August 2022, the KCRC issued the restaurant a stop-work order at a point where the structure was approximately 85 to 90% complete. The reason for the order was a claim that the new structure is encroaching on the ROW of Front Street. According to a written statement from LaMotte, he had obtained the necessary building, zoning, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits from Keweenaw County to ensure the addition proceeded properly. The issue has been in dispute since then.

The construction project included an enclosure for the business’ smoker and installation of a new walk-in cooler, four times the size of the current unit, in order to increase the kitchen’s efficiency. It was plumbed to house a brand-new, high-efficiency, instant boiler and hot water-system. It was to also provide a takeout window in the summer and be able to host 5-6-person barbecue classes during the winter.

On Sept. 18, LaMotte delivered the petition to abandon the right of way to the KCRC, which was verified by Kingstrom.

The area, as described in the Oct. 10 KCRC meeting minutes, is the entire length of the Fitzgerald’s Hotel/Restaurant (Lots 5,6,7) by 20 feet southward of the north right-of-way (ROW) line. The current ROW is 60 feet wide. Abandonment would result in 40 feet wide remaining ROW adjacent to these lots.

The petition to abandon the ROW adjacent to Fitzgerald’s was delivered to the KCRC on Sept. 18 by LaMotte. Kingstrom verified the petition met the requirements of the statute.

At a Dec. 12 special meeting of the KCRC, Ryan Plecha, attorney with the firm representing LaMotte, addressed the Board regarding the petition, saying he hopes for an amicable solution to the issue. Plecha stated that the Fitz addition would have no effect on the community, current snow removal operations, or be an overall detriment to the function of Front Street.