Saugatuck Township on the shore of Lake Michigan has been battling against developer and natural gas tycoon Aubrey McClendon for several years to prevent the development of sensitive dune land in the community. They were subject to countless lawsuits, essentially draining the Township coffers until, last summer, they finally capitulated and came to an “agreement” with McClendon’s group, Singapore Dunes. […]

I’m reprinting a guest column titled “Dunes Decision Troubling for All”, first published at The Bridge. In this piece, Alison Swan describes how Aubrey McClendon and his development company circumvented the normal legislative process and took his fight to develop the sensitive, rare and, of course, beautiful Saugatuck Dunes directly to the courts. Here, with his deep pockets and bloated […]

In March of 2008, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed into law legislation called the Michigan Planning Enabling Act (Michigan Public Act 33 of 2008.) This new law replaced three separate laws governing planning for municipalities, townships and counties, bringing their separate provisions into one unified law. Among other things, PA 33 changed how counties must set up their Planning Commissions, requiring […]

The Lake Michigan shoreline area of Allegan County was dealt a double-whammy this week. First, Saugatuck Township’s battle against developer Aubrey McClendon to prevent him from building a luxury resort and marina development in the heart of the Sauguatuck Dunes was lost when the Township compromised with him. I have written in the past about this HERE and HERE. From […]

There’s a developing story in Allegan County, home of the Saugatuck Dunes that I have been writing about. A Michigan law passed in 2008 called the Michigan Planning Enabling Act PA 33 of 2008 (discussed at length HERE [pdf]) requires county Planning Commissions to be created by Ordinance rather than by a Resolution and this must be done by July […]

Last week, I wrote about the connection between Congressman Fred Upton, the Emergency Financial Manager takeover of Benton Harbor and Aubrey McClendon, a millionaire developer and owner of the Chesapeake Oil natural gas company. In the piece, I talked a bit about McClendon’s lawsuits against Saugatuck Township in their efforts to prevent McClendon from developing a piece of duneland at […]

Last week, I wrote about a millionaire natural gas tycoon named Aubrey McClendon and his ties to Michigan. I also wrote about the man-made disaster his company Chesapeake Oil has created in Pennsylvania when one of their natural gas wells blew up and spewed thousands of gallons of chemical soup into the surrounding land an into a creek that leads […]

I’ve heard of onshore and offshore gas and oil spills but never before have I heard heard of a blowout at a natural gas facility. But yesterday in Pennsylvania, that’s exactly what happened (and is still happening): A blowout at a natural gas well in rural northern Pennsylvania spilled thousands of gallons of chemical-laced water on Wednesday, contaminating a stream […]

Based on some tips from folks who have contacted me about my blogging the Big Government TakeoverTM of Benton Harbor by Rick Snyder’s Emergency Financial Manager, Joseph Harris, I’ve been doing some digging into the development known as Harbor Shores. I have found an amazingly tangled web that involves a number of very powerful, very wealthy men. In the process […]