Land Swap Approved, Angers Some

Johnson has swapped 219 acres of his land for 218 acres of state land to consolidate his spread-out holdings on South Fox.The developer has a home on the island, and a spokesman said no new projects will be brought to the former park land that was formerly state land.

The swap created a firmer border between his property and state-owned property on South Fox, said Luke Haase, a Victor spokesman.Johnson owns 2,200 acres on the isolated 3,400-acre South Fox island in Lake Michigan, about 25 miles west of the Leelanau County coast.

The land is mostly vacant, except for Johnson's home, said Haase.The developer, known for his large Bay Harbor resort south of Petosky and residential projects in Oakland County, does not plan on building anything on the island, Haase said.

"The swap is a good thing for the state and a good thing for Johnson," Haase told GlobeSt.com. "It clears up the patchwork of broken up land ownership."

However, the Michigan Land Use Institute has decried the swap, saying the state should not have given up so much pristine open space. The group has accused Johnson of buying off the state with the donation of the 836-acre North Fox island, and of contributing major dollars to Republican campaigns such as Cox's campaign last November.

Haase said Johnson actually protected North Fox from a development partnership, interested in building a 500-home residential project with a golf course and a harbor, by donating the island to the state.Former Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, now the Michigan governor, had halted the swap to gather more information. According to MLUI, Granholm is unsatisfied with the swap approval, but will not interfere in the deal.

"This swap does not provide me any added shoreline or enhance or change my ability to develop the 2,200 acres my company owns on South Island," Johnson said. "I have devoted a great amount of personal time and resources to this initiative because I believe it makes sense for Michigan.