GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — The United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals decided this week to side with Grand Haven to keep Duncan Park a public park.
Duncan Park was donated to Grand Haven in 1913 by Martha Duncan. The 40-acre park was created through a trust deed with nine sections of obligations for Grand Haven, including creating a Duncan Park Commission.
When an 11-year-old boy died in a sledding accident in Duncan Park in 2009, a lawsuit was filed by the boy's mother to hold members of the Duncan Park Commission liable. Each member of the commission then resigned, forcing Grand Haven to pass a new ordinance in 2013 to recreate the commission's structure and modify the 1913 ordinances.
In 2015, the City of Grand Haven reformed the Duncan Park Trust and became the sole trustee when the search a new trustee was unsuccessful. In the original trust, the commission members could be held liable for personal injuries sustained in the park, and the court ruled that “it is wishful thinking to believe that the Estate will ever be able to find anyone willing to serve as successor trustee."
The decision for Grand Haven to serve as the trustee was approved by the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Because of this, four of Duncan's heirs filed a lawsuit in 2019 claiming Grand Haven had illegally taken their property. The heirs claimed that passing ordinances triggered the reverter provisions in the trust deed.
The court ruled that Duncan's deed contained an option to make changes to the deed to ensure her "charitable intention could be honored in perpetuity.”
After reviewing the case and analyzing Duncan's deed, the court ruled that Duncan's intent was for the park to "continue in perpetuity," and that the reverter provisions were not triggered by Grand Haven making changes to the ordinance.
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