05/05/2007

State offers new regulations on Great Lakes beach grooming

BAY CITY (AP) — Lakefront property owners frustrated with vegetation exposed by falling water levels could obtain permits to groom their beaches under proposed state regulations.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has proposed a system of five-year general permits for Great Lakes beach maintenance.

The department has set a May 6 deadline for comments on the plan, which would take effect Nov. 1. It would replace interim regulations in effect since 2003.

The rules seek a middle ground between the desire of some waterfront residents and motel owners for clear beaches and the need to protect coastal wetlands that provide crucial habitat for spawning fish and other aquatic wildlife, officials say.

"The big things that people should be aware of is permits are going to be required for any mechanical activity on the shoreline” such as using a lawnmower or tractor, said Daniel H. Morgan, supervisor of the state agency's Land and Water Management Division in Bay City.

Morgan said the general permit allows for limited mowing of vegetation, including mowing a 10-foot-wide path to the water and a 400-square-foot recreation area. It also allows homeowners to make a 6-foot-wide path with sand and gravel.

The proposal came out of months of talks with environmental groups and Save Our Shoreline, a property rights association.

"It's a good first step,” said Jennifer McKay, policy specialist for the Mitt Watershed Council in Petoskey. But the group says the proposal does too little to protect coastal wetlands.

McKay said the general permit proposal lacks needed limits on the amount of sand that can be moved or the amount of fill that can be used to make a path.

"We've already lost two-thirds of the (historic) Great Lakes coastal wetlands, and the ones we have remaining are ecologically critical,” McKay told The Bay City Times for a story Friday.

Property owners would be able to continue mowing and some other beach maintenance activities but would have to buy a $100 permit for five years.

Homeowners still would need U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval for such activities as leveling the ground and building paths.