GALIEN – Berrien County Trial Court Judge John Donahue has ordered a Galien wedding barn to be shut down pending a show cause hearing this week. Harbor Banks Winery Barn is located in downtown Galien and has been in operation for much of the last year.
The Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes posted a notice on Sept. 28 ordering Harbor Banks and owner Kevin Kelleher to stop construction and cease the use and occupancy of the building at 119 S. Cleveland Ave. Kelleher has been renovating the building over the last year during which time he’s also hosted weddings and other events there.
Judge Donahue issued a temporary restraining order against Kelleher on Oct. 6 and ordered him to appear at a show cause hearing on Oct. 19 in St. Joseph. State officials allege that Kelleher continued to host events at the wedding barn last weekend in defiance of the Oct. 6 restraining order.
Violations cited by the Bureau of Construction Codes included having no water supply in the plans for a fire suppression system and the lack of a complete system, deficiencies in plans for a first-floor bathroom remodel and several violations found after inspections of two exhaust fans which resulted in withdrawal of a mechanical permit.
The Bureau also claims that Kelleher applied for a building permit without full payment and without zoning approval of plans or specifications for the change in the building’s use.
A press release last week from the state indicated that although the Bureau had taken numerous steps in working with the owner toward attaining compliance, the defiance of the Bureau’s late September order prompted the court to issue the restraining order.
Kelleher could not be reached for comment. He and his wife own two other wedding barn venues in the area, one in Three Oaks and another in the Galien area. They’ve been in the wedding barn business for 12 years and have dozens of weddings booked into next year at the Harbor Banks Winery Barn building.
Galien Village Clerk Christine Palmer said last week that the village has not been dealing directly with him since September when they turned enforcement of state building codes over to the state. The village already had the state doing building and other permit inspections for about a year after the village’s building inspector retired.
She said the village has been hopeful that Kelleher’s venture would be successful to give a boost to the village’s business base. Currently, the downtown has a few businesses operating including an architectural firm, a sign company, a real estate office and a winery/catering business.
In July, Galien Village officials asked Kelleher to add the village to his insurance policy to protect the village from liability for anything that would happen on site. At that time, he’d been cited several times for violations including the lack of an elevator which has since been installed and they warned he was in danger of being “red tagged” and shut down.
Officials asked him in July to not have any open candles, sparklers or other types of fireworks on the premises until a fire suppression system and fiberglass tank to hold water are installed. That system has since been installed but appears to still not be in compliance with state code as noted in the Bureau’s list of violations.
Palmer said that complaints received by the village from residents have included ones about building safety and about litter and debris found outside the building. In July, council members also mentioned traffic concerns with people coming out of the building and wandering in the middle of the street.
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