PETOSKEY, MI -- There is an effort in Lansing to give more freedom to land owners, looking to groom their shoreline property.
Currently, if a person wants to trim vegetation and flatten sand, they need a permit form the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Senate Bill 1052 would eliminate this program.
State Senator Tom Casperson, R-38th District, introduced the legislation and criticizes the Department of Environmental Quality’s property rights oversight.
“I believe they are putting no emphasis on personal property rights and they have pretty much taken it away form these people, saying, you’re going to live where you live but we are going to regulate how you live there,” Casperson said.
Casperson tells 7&4 News Senate Bill 1052 does limit what people can do to their property. For example, dredging and building canals is not permitted. He said he does not want to see people making a negative impact on the ecosystem.
Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council Policy Specialist Jennifer McKay worries the Bill will do just that.
“It changes the chemical and biological property. It reduces macro-vertebra which is food for fish...90% of the 200 Great Lakes fish species rely on costal wetlands at some point during their lives so we see impacts to the game fish,” McKay said.
Senate Bill 1052 has already passed through the Senate. It now sits in the State House. A vote is expected in the next couple weeks.
