Melissa Borden and The Devoted Barn like to maintain the narrative that they were welcomed in Frenchtown and would have been able to stay if they had chosen to renew their Special Land Use Permit. This may have been true, but from the time they moved into the property in Frenchtown, there were issues. We don't even need to say much, the documents below spanning over the course of several years show a pattern of ordinance breaking. I think it's safe to say that Frenchtown was not happy that they were there and they were not being welcomed to stay.
Here are 29 pages of documents showing many township ordinance violations starting in 2014. It also has the request from the township to apply for a special land use permit that didn't happen until 2017.
The document shown (photos below) shows their approval for the special land use for the kennels and stable. You will notice that it is dated for October 20, 2017. The Devoted Barn knew what the "rules" of their Special Land Use were. When they were forced out in 2019 they had gone many days past the allotted 60 days if the SLUP was voided (Item 3 in Document). They did not renew their SLUP as of March 1st as dictated by the permit. They did not start moving animals to the Holly property until June 2019 and the dogs were not moved until August 2019. So the narrative that they hoped that the township would "give them some extra time to move" is confusing. They had almost 6 months to move the dogs after their SLUP was voided on March 1st before the township came knocking on their door to forcibly remove them with a court order. The court motion of the case is also linked below. Because of lack of rule following, The Devoted Barn has been shelling out legal fees due to township debates since 2019.
In the minutes below, it seems as though that Frenchtown was considering revoking the SLUP of The Devoted Barn, had they reapplied for their SLUP as of March 1, 2019. Citizens at the Township meeting stated their concerns over the condition of the property. Nowhere is it mentioned that they just needed to add a handicap accessible bathroom. If they had been granted the SLUP in 2017, why would suddenly they need a bathroom to be able to continue?
It is reasonable that The Devoted Barn did want to expand to a larger property, however, the story that they were welcomed 100% by the past township is just not true. The issues with ordinances and rule following have followed them to an entirely different township now by no fault but their own. If the proper proactive steps had been taken before moving to Rose Township, the troubles they are having now could have been avoided.
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