SAUGATUCK, Mich. — Build a house upon a dune and — in some cases — neither the house nor the dune will be able to stand.
Roughly 273,000 acres of Michigan coastline is covered by sand dunes. Around one-quarter of them are considered critical and deserving of special protection from the state. A pair of soon-to-be-introduced bills aim to protect them further still, raising the standard for development on the fragile form of terrain.
"We’re not saying don't build lake houses. We're not saying don't develop near the shore. What we are saying is you need to develop responsibly," said Rep. Joey Andrews (D - St. Joseph), who previewed the legislation at a public event in Saugatuck last month.
In 2012, the state of Michigan amended portions of its Sand Dune Protection and Management Act (SDPMA), reducing the role of local governments in determining land use on sand dunes, allowing for freer development.
"What might protect one person's property could erode the person next door's property," said Rep. Rachel Hood (D - Grand Rapids), also present at the Saugatuck event. "When we develop incorrectly on our dunes, that means that water and time are going to work against us."
Rep. Hood's bill looks to clarify the role of state and federal government in relation to critical dune areas and reinvests in critical dune mapping, allowing the bar for "responsible development" to be raised.
"This is not a bill that slows down development or stops development," Rep. Hood said. "This is a bill that clarifies when and where we can develop appropriately."
Meanwhile, Rep. Andrews' bill will delineate the difference between commercial and residential sand mining: "I'm hopeful this will be viewed as a pretty common sense fix, and hopefully it'll be something that can move pretty smoothly," he said. "There's room for responsible development."
For David Swan, board president of the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance, the legislation is an economically-minded as much as ecological.
"There’s really no need to have to pave every single surface, to make Michigan’s dunes like Metro Detroit’s suburbs or Metro Chicago’s suburbs," said Swan, referencing Saugatuck's powerful tourism industry ($265M annually) and its smaller population.
"Homeowners should have a real responsibility because it’s a real honor to own a home in the critical dunes," he said.
