CLEARWATER TOWNSHIP, MI -- A nonprofit that promotes the preservation of Torch Lake has filed a lawsuit seeking to ban future sandbar bashes after last year's Fourth of July festivities drew an estimated 10,000 people.

The lawsuit filed by the Torch Lake Protection Alliance in Kalkaska County Circuit Court alleges party promoters Beatbox Beverages, Lansingparty.com and Brooks Ehlert created a nuisance when hosting the July 4, 2015 revelry that outraged local residents.

The lawsuit requests the court declare future gatherings a nuisance and issue a permanent injunction to stop the defendants from promoting and hosting sandbar parties, or alternatively, prevent future gatherings without permits.

The lawsuit claims the party violated the state's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act because the organizers didn't obtain permits to set up structures such as a dance platform and drinking tables in the inland lake. TLPA says the event isn't permitted in the residential area without a special use permit per the Clearwater Township zoning ordinance.

Local residents said Fourth of July parties on the sandbar, which sits at the south end of Michigan's second-largest inland lake, for years have primarily consisted of families.

Younger crowds converged last year after the party was promoted on social media. A property owner said it was the first time busloads of attendees were dropped off at the sandbar.

Sheriff's deputies arrested people and issued citations for minor in possession, drunken driving, open intoxicants, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Homeowners have complained about the sprawling gathering's loud music that rattled their homes, party-goers who trespassed on private property and trash discarded on the shoreline.

The organizers didn't bring sanitary facilities or trash cans, according to the lawsuit. TLPA member Gary Petty said he waded in the murky water during the festivities and observed cigarette butts, tobacco particles, empty cans and "pieces of what appeared to be vomit."

Residents were concerned about human and animal feces that washed up on the shore last year, but water quality tests showed urine or fecal contamination didn't rise to harmful levels.

Greg Payne, president of the TLPA, said there was a notable increase in walk-on traffic this past summer on the sandbar. There's a small strip of public access that allows people to walk onto the sandbar. Payne said there's not an adjoining parking lot and, as a result, party-goers blocked off private driveways and stood in yards.

"Property owners are not opposed to boaters enjoying the sandbar. However, the promotion of the sandbar for the 4th of July has resulted in an overwhelming influx of people walking onto the sandbar without providing for the cost of public safety, sanitation and trash collection," Payne said in a release.

TLPA says the bash lacked adequate security and attracted underage drinkers who drove boats and vehicles illegally. Homeowners said attendees disregarded township regulations that prohibit alcohol consumption and the anchoring and mooring of unattended boats for more than five hours.

"During the 2015 promoted and sponsored party event, the river essentially became a parking lot. ... This congestion made it impossible for my family and I to take our boat onto Torch Lake," property owner Sue Kelly said, according to the lawsuit.

Ehlert, a Saginaw-based DJ and one of the promoters, told MLive last summer he plans on taking "full advantage of the public access" and the parties will continue until local ordinances say otherwise.

"If I owned a home on the lake, I would have the same concerns," Ehlert said after the 2015 party. "They have every right to be upset. (But) it seems like it's the same song and dance (every year) -- they complain and nothing gets done."

Angie Jackson covers crime and breaking news for MLive. Email her at ajackso3@mlive.com, and follow her on Twitter.