Proposed driveway in dune area sparks opposition

WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A proposal to build a 1,200-foot private driveway across a strip of government-owned Lake Michigan dune habitat has sparked opposition, but the plan could be approved after changes are made to the state law governing lakefront dune areas.

Bro G Land Co. has applied for a state Department of Environmental Quality permit to build a 2,800-square-foot home on dune property near Barrier Dune Sanctuary in Muskegon County’s White River Township.

The land for the home is owned by the Gezon family, which said it has a 24-foot-wide easement across the township’s property to get to the site. The family said that predates the township’s purchase of the land and its creation of the dune sanctuary in the late 1980s.

“Since 1910, there’s been an easement going through that property,” William R. Gezon said. “The options are that they can buy our piece of property. We are open to that.”

Opponents of the development described the proposed driveway, which would go through the dune sanctuary, as a road. Local municipal officials, residents and conservation groups say approval would lead to the destruction of a sensitive area that is a tourist draw.

“These fragile, critical barrier dunes are a natural ecosystem specifically placed into public trust for their protection because they can easily be destroyed,” state Rep. Collene Lamonte, D-Montague, said before the hearing. “Building a 1,200-foot-long driveway directly across them to a single house is ludicrous.”

The state agency held a public hearing on the application Monday night. It is accepting comments in writing as well and is expected to decide by May 13.

Lamonte also was the first public speaker at the hearing, and she repeated her objections to the application.

“I have heard from so many people who live in this community how outraged they are that protected sand dunes may soon be obliterated for the sake of a homeowner,” she said, receiving loud applause from the audience.

A steady stream of other speakers also opposed the project.

Past proposals have been denied several times over the last 20 years. The current proposal comes after Republican Gov. Rick Snyder last year signed legislation changing the state’s sand dune law, giving builders an easier time gaining approval for houses, driveways and other projects.

At the time, environmental groups said the law would allow overdevelopment by weakening regulators’ authority to block projects or require changes to reduce their impact. Pro-development interests said the previous law was tilted heavily in favor of dune protection.

The state has received almost 50 permit applications for development in dune areas, The Detroit News reported. Michelle Hohn, who heads the Department of Environmental Quality’s statewide critical dunes committee, said those include more applications for driveways, since changes affected those.

“It’s too soon to know tell if the changes are causing more applications to come in because we’re just getting into the construction season,” Hohn said.

The change in law led to the latest White River Township proposal, according to MLive.com.

In the White River Township plan, 1,000 feet of the driveway would run through the sanctuary, which includes wetlands, dunes, wildlife and plants, but no structures, equipment or paved surfaces. The developers said their project would do no harm to the dunes.