Meridian Township residents Judith and Harry Hurst have lived next to the wetlands at Lake Lansing and Abbott roads for 20 years.

Now the future of the land surrounding their property is up in the air.

Both believe the wetlands, near their modest tan and blue ranch-style home, could be endangered by future developments as a result of a land-share deal struck with East Lansing on Friday.

Since 1998, the city has swallowed more than 2,300 acres of land from adjacent townships with deals such as the one with Meridian Township. East Lansing leaders say they want to develop that land to increase the city’s tax base.

But officials and residents of the townships losing the land say developers are taking advantage of that desire to grow to escape from more strict township zoning laws. Of four land-share deals, known as Public Act 425 agreements, reached with neighboring townships, three were as a direct result of action taken to annex the land into East Lansing.

“It sucks. It’s stupid,” Harry Hurst said. “What advantage is there, other than to get around the Meridian Township ordinance?”

Meridian Township and East Lansing officials had been at the bargaining table since February over 101 acres that includes the wetlands near the Hursts’ home. Part of the 425 agreement requires development near the wetlands to be approved by the Meridian Township board. The deal voids the results of an Aug. 6 election to annex the land into the city, instead sharing tax revenue and public services between the two municipalities.

Still, the fate the 101 acres - which includes 90 acres near the wetlands and 11 acres near Four Winds Golf Course, 5800 Park Lake Road - could be thrown in limbo.

Mark Rysberg’s family owns 22 acres surrounding the Hursts’ home. Township Supervisor Susan McGillicuddy said Rysberg filed a petition for a referendum to overturn the township’s land-share agreement.

If the petitions are certified by the Ingham County clerk after being checked by the township clerk, the fate of the land will be decided by township voters Nov. 5.

Rysberg, a developer, serves as an East Lansing planning commissioner. He says the land-share agreement puts unfair restrictions on developers, including the creation of a joint East Lansing-Meridian Township zoning board.

The deal also maintains the provisions of a township ordinance that keeps developments at least 50 feet from wetlands. East Lansing zoning rules would have allowed developers to build up to 20 feet from the wetlands, with two rows of evergreen trees in between.

If Rysberg’s petition is certified and the land-share deal overturned, that land could be annexed into East Lansing under the city’s rules, leaving the Hursts and township officials high and dry.

“I feel there is now some protection,” Judith Hurst said of the agreement. “I feel it is better to agree to some protection than none.

“If you have a lot of activity, you won’t have too much wildlife.”

She added she moved to her house because of the allure and relaxation the wetlands provide. But Rysberg’s father, who owned the land, painted a bleak picture of the area’s future, she said.

“Mr. Rysberg, about seven years ago, said money talks and bullshit walks,” Judith Hurst said. “It’ll all be developed and I can just watch and enjoy it, because tree-huggers like me are a dime a dozen.

“He’s seen a bunch of us and there’s nothing we can do about it, and he may be right.”

Rysberg said his family doesn’t intend to build on wetlands and the ordinance is not an issue to him. Instead, his main concern is dealing with the bureaucracy of a joint-zoning commission, which would include East Lansing and Meridian Township members. He favors annexation.

“After 30 years of my family and I trying to be reasonable with Meridian Township, we’ve gotten nowhere,” he said.

East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows said the joint-zoning commission wouldn’t have stalled further negotiations like Rysberg says. But he said the commission will keep developers in line with the values of both communities.

“It was very unique,” Meadows said. “We felt we wanted to provide a disincentive to annexation.”

Township officials speculate Rysberg is fighting the land-share deal so that his family can build apartment complexes on their land. Under the terms of the agreement, only condominiums and houses can be built on the site.

“We’ve done what we think is a good job to protect property values, and if that would happen, it would only hurt (homeowners’) property,” the township’s McGillicuddy said. “Usually, people don’t want to live next to apartments because they’re a nuisance.

“The only benefit for Rysberg in Meridian Township is if he defeated the 425, he would seek higher-density zoning” to build apartments.

City officials had first pushed for multiple-family dwellings on the disputed land.

In the end, Meridian Township officials would have preferred the land stay under the township’s complete control. But as cities such as East Lansing look for ways to grow, state annexation laws allow townships to easily fall prey to land-grabs.

Township residents are nearly powerless to stop annexation votes, but lose all of an area’s tax revenue if the land is lost.

Under the terms of the land-share deal between East Lansing and Meridian Township, the township can avoid some of those losses - at least for the 100 years of the agreement. After that, residents of the area will go to the polls to decide which municipality they want to govern their land.

But if the deal is overturned Nov. 5, the door opens again for East Lansing to annex the land, a move some in the township see as more dirty politics among area governments.

“It’s the law of the land, we’re trying to change it,” Township Manager Jerry Richards said. “But the law favors cities like East Lansing.”

Kristofer Karol can be reached at karolkri@msu.edu.