Appeals court sides with Van Andels in longstanding dispute over ‘Big Red’ lighthouse access
The Macatawa Park Association filed a lawsuit against the Van Andel family in 2022, saying the family blocked the association’s members from utilizing pathways that provide a route to the lighthouse for recreational purposes.
PARK TWP. — The Michigan Court of Appeals recently sided with affluent landowners in a property dispute, in which Macatawa property owners claim they have a right to several private paths that provide access to the Holland Harbor Lighthouse, more commonly known as Big Red.
The Macatawa Park Association, a group of homeowners with property on the south side of the Holland Harbor channel, filed a lawsuit against the Van Andel family in 2022, saying the family blocked the association’s members from utilizing pathways that provide a route to the lighthouse for recreational purposes.
The Van Andels built their wealth by co-founding multi-level marketing company Amway with the DeVos family.
Prior to the pandemic in 2020, the association and the Van Andels entered into an agreement that limited the public’s access to the lighthouse to Tuesdays and Thursdays, which was later suspended due to concerns over high water levels and COVID-19 exposure, according to court filings.
By summer 2021, the Van Andels had not restored lighthouse access to either Macatawa Park residents or the general public, the association said. The park association alleged that the Van Andels maintained a guardhouse with security personnel on a private path leading to the lighthouse, and that a barricade had been installed, blocking another pathway from recreational access.
The Ottawa County Circuit Court sided with Van Andel Properties in 2024, stating that Macatawa Park Association residents did not have the right to access private paths on the Van Andels' property that led to the lighthouse, including Bay Road, North Walk and Lakeside Way.
The association appealed the decision, bringing the case to the Michigan Court of Appeals in April 2026, which then affirmed the lower court’s ruling. The association attempted to argue that, historically, Macatawa Park functioned as a single “resort community” and that certain members of the association had gained the right to access the private paths through decades of continuous use.
The central argument of attorneys representing Van Andel Properties was that the Macatawa Park Association was attempting to create rights for residents that never legally existed. The Van Andels’ attorneys pointed toward the association’s use of historical maps and brochures in its “one resort” argument, stating that historical materials can not substitute for property records.
The appeals court agreed with the circuit court’s decision, siding with the Van Andels and rejecting the association’s argument that the peninsula should be treated as one resort with shared access rights. It found that the association failed to produce formal evidence that the paths in question had been dedicated to all Macatawa residents.
The court also found that, although a previous Michigan Supreme Court ruling established a right to the “necessary and convenient” delivery of goods to Macatawa residents utilizing the community’s pathways, that didn’t create a right for cottage owners to recreationally walk neighbors’ private paths.
Ottawa News Network reached out to the Macatawa Park Association and attorneys representing both the association and Van Andel Properties. The attorneys and the association have either declined to comment or have not responded to these requests.
It is unclear whether the association will seek review from the Michigan Supreme Court. Typically, only 2-3 percent of cases submitted are argued before the state's highest court.
Public access to the lighthouse has been an ongoing dispute in the county for several decades. The lighthouse sits on property owned by the Holland Harbor Lighthouse Historical Commission, adjacent to the Van Andels’ private property. The harbor channel and U.S. Coast Guard Station in Holland are under federal ownership.
In late May, a petition began circulating on social media, calling upon Holland Mayor Nathan Bocks, U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to grant public access to the lighthouse.
The petition has garnered close to 900 signatures and states: “This change can be achieved by negotiating terms where public rights are prioritized while simultaneously addressing any legitimate concerns … such as security or maintenance.”
— Contact ONN reporter Hailey Hentz at hhentz@ottawanewsnetwork.org.
