When Mark Anderson and Alicia Tatham began dating, visiting lavender farms became their go-to thing.
“A lot of times, we would go to these lavender farms and the fields wouldn’t even be in bloom,” Tatham said. “But you get a glass of wine, you walk around and you just decompress. Life calms down, and I think that’s what we fell in love with.”
The couple later married and decided to build their own: Driftwood Lavender farm at the site of a shuttered tavern at 6789 Oak Beach Road in Huron County’s Lake Township, in Michigan’s Thumb.
But all is not tranquil in these lavender fields.
Tatham and Anderson sought to operate a lavender farm where people could relax, sip wine or beer and buy lavender-based and other touristy products. But since attempting to fully open in the summer of 2024, they say Driftwood Lavender has faced almost continual resistance from the local Lake Township government.
Township officials have challenged their ability to sell beer and wine — even though the business holds Michigan liquor licenses for on-premises consumption and as a specially designated merchant. The township says their amount of store shelf space and what they plan to sell violates their planned unit development zoning. And they’ve told them they can’t hold special events.
“We have been well-received; we have a lot of people asking to do weddings here, showers here, small birthday parties,” Tatham said. “And right now, we are being told by the township we can’t do any of that.”
Tatham and Anderson said the wife of township zoning administrator Terry Kelly arranged to hold her daughter’s 40th birthday party at Driftwood Lavender in the summer of 2024. Terry Kelly attended the party and seemed to enjoy himself, the couple said. Shortly after the party, the couple received a notice of a zoning ordinance violation for holding an event — from Terry Kelly.
“He was present,” Anderson said. “He came and enjoyed the wine and enjoyed the food and kept repeating over and over again how nice of a party it was. And then afterward, we get a cease-and-desist order from him.”
The couple sought to have a yoga instructor teach yoga to a small group of participants in the lavender fields. The township prohibited it as a special event. An over-winter comedy night was also rejected by the township last winter.
“Every month it was something different,” Tatham said.
The couple have filed a federal lawsuit against Lake Township in U.S. District Court’s Eastern District, alleging:
The couple have retained the Detroit-based Miller Canfield law firm to represent them — significant because that same law firm represented wineries in Leelanau County’s Old Mission Peninsula facing similar township zoning restrictions: the wineries were required to close by 9:30 p.m., could not host weddings and 85% of the products they sold had to originate from the Old Mission Peninsula. In July 2025, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Michigan Paul Maloney ruled the zoning restrictions were illegal and unconstitutional, and ordered Peninsula Township to pay the wineries $50 million.
“We litigated almost identical issues against Peninsula Township Up North … and Judge Maloney there ruled that the township up there, their ban on events was arbitrary, void and in violation of the due process clause,” said Stephen Ragatzki, an attorney for Anderson and Tatham, who also worked the Peninsula Township wineries case.
Township digs in, cites safety concerns
Free Press inquiries to Lake Township Zoning Administrator Terry Kelly and Township Supervisor Valerie McCallum were responded to with an emailed statement, indicating township officials “cannot comment on many of the recent public statements made by the owners of the Driftwood Lavender Farm” because of the pending federal lawsuit.
“Unfortunately, when the current owners of Driftwood Lavender Farm bought the property a few years ago, there were many zoning and practical limiting problems associated with the property. The parcel is relatively small in size, and the former closed tavern had abandoned its grandparented/lawful nonconforming rights.
“The parcel is located on a well-traveled road, has limited on-site parking, and parking along the road obstructs traffic and creates safety concerns.”
The township “granted extensive zoning approvals so that the Driftwood Lavender Farm could be created and operate” in 2023, and the owners of the business agreed to abide by all of the “reasonable conditions” that were attached, the township officials’ statement reads.
With Tatham and Anderson seeking to “expand the uses, structures and activities on the site” and lift the restrictions, the township is required to consider requested zoning amendments — but the township officials said they cannot because the couple’s application, site plan and other filings are not complete. “Regrettably, before the zoning amendment process could be completed, the current lawsuit was filed,” the township officials stated.
Guitars, harps, flutes: ‘That’s the crowd we want’
Anderson, however, disputes the township’s version.
“Holding events here was always on the agenda, from day one,” he said. “I mean, we built the store for that. They had the drawings from the get-go … it was always our idea to be able to have people come in and have small events and gatherings.”
Anderson noted their parking lot has 23 spaces, with a building occupancy of 64. “If they go three people to car, we have plenty of parking to meet our capacity,” without parking in the road, he said.
The township seems concerned about overly large gatherings, but that isn’t what’s happened or is going to happen, the couple assert. Their building sits on 10 total acres, with some of the acreage acquired after the initial former tavern purchase. About 1 acre of the property is a lavender field.
“We would like to have somebody sit at the pavilion and play a guitar or a harp or a flute or something; that’s the crowd we want,” Anderson said. “Enjoy a glass of wine, sit in the Adirondack chairs, listen to some soft music. That’s what a lavender farm is all about. But the township considers that a prohibited concert.”
Tatham and Anderson’s lawsuit asks the court to find the township’s lawsuit restrictions unconstitutional and award them damages and costs. The township’s response to the couple’s lawsuit must be filed with the court by Feb. 26.
Tatham and Anderson hope to have Driftwood Lavender open again by this spring. “But right now, without being able to have the events, we can’t keep the doors open with what they are doing,” Tatham said.
Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lavender and red tape: Farm in Thumb fighting township restrictions
Reporting by Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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