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STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS
PETER W. HUNT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v GREEN LAKE TWP., Defendant-Appellee. No. 283524 Grand Traverse Circuit Court LC No. 07-025948-CH UNPUBLISHED May 21, 2009

Before: Whitbeck, P.J., and Davis and Gleicher, JJ. PER CURIAM. Plaintiff Peter W. Hunt appeals as of right from two orders of the trial court granting summary disposition in favor of defendant Green Lake Township and an order of the trial court denying Hunt's motion to show cause. We affirm. I. Basic Facts And Procedural History It was undisputed that Hunt owned property located in the Township and that this property was situated in two sections, one of which was adjacent to a lake and separated from the remaining property by a road. The fee under this road was owned by the Township pursuant to a deed signed in 1912 in which the then-owner of the property conveyed it to the Township for the purpose of constructing a public highway on the premises. In 2005, Hunt demolished an old home and rebuilt a new home on the parcel of property that was adjacent to the lake. Hunt never protested the 2006 property tax valuation of the property to the March Board of Review. The record indicates that construction on the new home may have been substantially completed in 2006. Hunt did protest the 2007 property tax valuation of his property to the Board of Review, but was apparently unsuccessful because he filed an appeal with the Michigan Tax Tribunal about both the 2006 and 2007 valuations. As part of this appeal, the Township's assessor completed an answer form in which he set forth the formulas used in the 2006 and 2007 tax years and indicated that he calculated the 2006 assessed and taxable value under MCL 211.34d(1)(b) and (h). At some point, Hunt sought permission from the Township to build a garage across the road from his house (that is, on the property on the landward side of the road). The Township denied this permit application on the basis that the lakefront and landward properties were separate properties and its zoning ordinances prohibited an accessory structure in a residential district without a conforming dwelling. -1-

Hunt filed a complaint, arguing that certain Michigan statutory tax provisions were unconstitutional (Count One) and challenging the Township's zoning ordinances (Count Two). As he has on appeal, at all times in the trial proceedings, Hunt, who is not an attorney, represented himself. Hunt moved for summary disposition on Count One. The parties participated in mediation, which was unsuccessful. Hunt then filed a motion to show cause why the Township should not be held in contempt for failing to comply with certain court orders regarding mediation and failing to respond to his e-mail discovery request. The trial court granted summary disposition on Count One in favor of the Township pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8) and (I)(2), denied Hunt's motion to show cause, denied Hunt's motion for reconsideration, and ordered Hunt to answer two interrogatories. The Township then moved for summary disposition with respect to Count Two of Hunt's complaint pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8) and (10). In Hunt's answer to this motion, he asserted that the "[Township's] expansion of [Hunt's] complaint by introduction of material obtained during discovery of [Hunt's] complaint was not sanctioned by [Hunt]." The trial court interpreted this statement at the motion hearing as a request that the court limit its rulings to the claims made in the complaint. The trial court granted the Township's motion for summary disposition on Count Two. Hunt now appeals. II. Hunt's Constitutional Claims A. Standard Of Review This Court reviews de novo the grant or denial of a motion for summary disposition.1 We also review de novo issues concerning the interpretation of tax statutes.2 B. MCL 211.34d The trial court did not err in granting summary disposition to the Township on Hunt's constitutional claims in Count One of his complaint. After the Michigan voters adopted Proposal A in 1994, thereby amending Const 1963, art 9,

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