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Greetings!
This is our first email newsletter. It will be issued once a month, or more often if a dune related event needs to be reported. We will print and mail a newsletter only two or three times a year.
We hope that this will keep you better informed about events affecting the dunes and do so at a reduced cost.
If you have friends interested in the Michigan dunes who are not receiving this newsletter, please forward it to them so they have the opportunity to join the mailing list.
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North Point Park
Steps taken to protect this beautiful lakefront area
Previously, we notified you that the Van Buren County Board of Commissioners was considering selling North Point Park. Many of you responded with calls and emails to the commissioners. The board tabled the issue of selling the land.
Three scenarios for use of the land were created by Friends of North Point and presented for public comment. They ranged from minimal change to significant expansion of facilities. Comments were received and presented to the commission. The majority of respondents preferred minimal change. The "Friends" proposed that the land be protected through a conservation easement and be open to the public in perpetuity. The commissioners have responded positively to the proposals.
The full presentation is available on line. The details of conservation easements will be discussed when the board meets as a committee of the whole on March 25 at 4:30 PM on the second floor of the Administration building in Paw Paw. The commissioners may consider the plans for North Point at the regular meeting of the board immediately following at 5:30 PM . Read more ....
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PTD Design Awards Featured
Shore Magazine Article "What's good for the Dunes"
The winning projects of the PTD Critical Dunes Residential Design Awards were pictured in the April issue of Shore Magazine. The article describes the pressure to develop versus that to protect the dunes. As the price of land increases, the pressure to increase development density and size of homes mounts.
Realtors and home builders emphasize property rights. Environmentalist emphasize preservation of an irreplaceable natural resource. The text of the article is available on-line; photographs and descriptions of the winning projects are available at the PTD website.
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DEQ Reviews Critical Dune Law
Goal: Transparent Process, Measurable, Rational, Clear, and Fair
Last fall, the DEQ assembled a group of over 30 "stakeholders" of the Sand Dune Protection and Management Act to take a fresh look at the law and how it has been enforced.
When the law was first enacted in 1979, the legislature intended local units of government to adopt zoning regulations for dune development that implemented the provisions of the law.
For townships, towns and cities that did not adopt such regulations, the DEQ would enforce the law. Only two towns amended their zoning ordinances to include approved provisions. The remainder were worried about being sued for "takings" of private property.
There are five clear requirements of the law that apply to all development within the designated Critical Dune Areas (CDA).
1. Construction on, or disturbance of, a slope steeper than 1 foot vertical in 3 feet horizontal (33% slope) is not allowed.
2. An architect or engineer must prepare contract documents for projects that disturb or build on a slope steeper than 25%.
3. Construction of a use is not allowed lakeward of the first dune crest.
4. Alteration of topography or vegetation is not allowed when the alteration is more extensive than necessary for the intended use or if it threatens stability of the dune.
5. A DEQ permit is required for construction, tree removal, or grading within the CDA except where local government has been authorized to issue such permits.
Builders, realtors, property owners and architects have expressed a great deal of dissatisfaction with the law and the DEQ's enforcement, as described in the Shore Magazine article. Complaints include: It takes too long to get a permit. The requirements are not clear. The process is opaque and burdensome. The emphasis on slopes does not actually protect the dunes and limits site and building design unnecessarily.
In a series of 5 or 6 plenary sessions and 5 or 6 meetings of a subgroup, a strategy for regulation emerged. It is a two step process. In the first step, the site is evaluated for its significance and level of necessary protection. Lots located in subdivision-like settings would have a lower score than those in exemplary dunes. Critically imperiled, imperiled and vulnerable settings would have higher scores.
Once the lot is evaluated, the proposed development is scored. Actions that damage the dunes are given points and those that protect or mitigate damage are to be given negative points. The object is to get a low score, as in golf.
This approach allows an owner to make tradeoffs. For example, one might want to clear a larger area in tradeoff for removing invasive species.
Over the next six months the standards are to be calibrated through testing with data from a large number of completed projects, refined, and reviewed with legislators. |
Warren Dunes State Park Threatened
Warren Heirs Seek Control
A legal battle could determine whether Michigan will retain control of Warren Woods State Park and part of Warren Dunes State Park.
Three Oaks industrialist Edward Warren and his wife set aside the land for preservation and public use and placed ownership in a charitable trust.
The land was in two parcels, which were leased to the state for 99 years in 1938. One is 250 acres and includes more than a mile of Lake Michigan frontage. It is the core of Warren Dunes State Park, which has been expanded to 1,952 acres. The second lease is for 310 acres and today is Warren Woods, which is the last remaining example of a beech-maple climax forest in southern Michigan.
The trust was dissolved in 1964. On March 12, the Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph reported that five people who represent the Warrens' heirs have filed a complaint in Berrien County Trial Court seeking to renew the foundation's charter.
The heirs say that without the charter, the foundation set up as a charitable trust by the Warrens in 1917 would have failed in its purposes. That would result in the land reverting to the heirs, a "substantial loss" to the public, the complaint says.
The Michigan attorney general's office has filed a motion to end the case in the state's favor, claiming the heirs have another motive. The state argues that once the trust was dissolved, the land was vested with the court. Under a separate action the state is asking that the DNR be appointed by the court as trustees of the land. |
Don't Miss the Benefit
At 6:30 PM on Saturday, July 19, PTD will hold a benefit at the Fenn Valley Winery, in Fennville.
Don't miss this evening of wine and appetizers at a beautiful southwest Michigan winery and vineyard. Also join us for the Discover Michigan auction featuring unique Michigan related items.
Event is $45/person.
Funds will help continue efforts to raise awareness about dune ecosystems, stop sand dune mining in the Critical Dunes, offer children's educational programs on dune ecosystems through Sarett Nature Center, and work with local governments to preserve dune ecosystems.
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"These dunes are to the Midwest what the Grand Canyon is to Arizona . . .
once lost, the loss would be irrevocable." Carl Sandburg
Sincerely,
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