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April 20, 2003Major violations merit full weight of the law- The issueAn area developer is charged with filling wetlands - Our view Officials need to closely monitor development to discourage violations and halt them when necessary To hear developer Bill Clous tell it, he's just a farmer clearing land so he can plant crops. To hear Grand Traverse County's drain commissioner and prosecutor tell it, Clous is violating state and local wetlands and soil erosion laws so he'll have more land to develop. No one can yet say who's right. That will likely be up to a judge and the state attorney general's office. What can be said is that Grand Traverse County officials are doing what they're supposed to be doing. And they need to keep doing it. It has long been known that in most counties in Michigan, enforcement of environmental and soil erosion laws is anemic at best. Officials either don't have the manpower or the will to monitor development and aggressively enforce the law. Many a time a developer finds it easier to simply flout the law and, if caught, pay the price. That's because the price is often a joke. Last fall, for example, after Drain Commissioner Maureen Templeton issued a cease and desist order to Clous, the case went to prosecutor Dennis LaBelle. Clous later agreed to pay a $500 fine. (His attorney says Clous could have claimed a farming exemption, but didn't.) For developers who often deal with projects in the millions of dollars, $500 is meaningless. In the Clous case, county officials say work at the site has continued. At the time the first cease and desist order was issued, they say, Clous had filled in 13 acres of wetlands. Now, they say, that's up to 90. LaBelle now says he will seek to charge Clous with a willful soil erosion violation, which carries a fine of up to $10,000 for every day of violation. LaBelle says that could be for more than 100 days. That's not meaningless. Hopefully, the scrutiny being put on this case and by Templeton's public assertions earlier this year that soil erosion and wetlands laws aren't being enforced will inspire officials here and elsewhere to redouble their enforcement efforts. These kinds of prosecutions aren't easy. They require a lot of legwork, specialized knowledge and persistence. It's often a judgment call. But it has to be done. Those in the construction, landscaping and building trades know who plays by the rules and who doesn't. And watching others break the law and get away with it, and in the process save themselves a ton of money, is frustrating to those who toe the line. The only solution is consistent, persistent enforcement of the law, with real teeth behind the threat. That's the job public officials are elected or hired to do, and the public expects them to do it. Scott McEwen of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in Petoskey says there's a saying in the developer world that reflects the problem: "It's easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission." It's the job of public officials to turn that on its ear: "It's cheaper to ask permission than to pay the price of forgiveness." ull weight of the law
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