Battle Creek Times

The Midwesterner has reported that the Michigan Supreme Court has revived a lawsuit by local residents challenging zoning and procedural decisions related to the Ford-CATL megasite in Marshall, Michigan.

According to WWMT, the lawsuit alleges that Marshall city leaders improperly rezoned land for industrial use to facilitate the Ford-CATL megasite, which plaintiffs argue remains under Marshall Township jurisdiction. This rezoning decision provided key legal authority for the BlueOval Battery Park’s construction. The Michigan Supreme Court vacated the Court of Appeals’ earlier dismissal of this case and remanded it for reconsideration in light of precedent, indicating the legal dispute over zoning is significant.

Another issue in the suit is that the plaintiffs say a petition opposing the rezoning submitted more than 800 signatures was largely invalidated by the City Clerk, who deemed only 136 valid. WWMT records show that many signatures were rejected on technical grounds (collected by non-committee members), which residents assert violates the Marshall City Charter and state constitutional rules on petition circulation. The fact that the Supreme Court has asked lower courts to revisit this suggests these procedural questions are not trivial and may affect citizen input.

Reuters reports that the Ford-CATL project (BlueOval Battery Park in Marshall) is slated to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives, though these have been scaled back as the project’s planned production capacity and workforce were reduced. Michigan lowered the incentive package from about $1.03 billion to approximately $409 million after Ford reduced expected output from 35 to 20 gigawatt hours and reduced job estimates from 2,500 to 1,700. This creates growing concern among community and economic watchdogs about the cost to taxpayers versus the promised benefits.

The Midwesterner is a Michigan-based news organization focused on state and regional issues including environmental and community impacts of large development projects. Its reporting often emphasizes local residents’ voices, legal accountability, and governmental transparency. According to its "about" page, The Midwesterner aims to bring stories to light that are frequently underreported by national outlets, especially those affecting local communities and public policy.