Elections have consequences and sometimes they’re permanent consequences

Lost in the shuffle of last year’s orgy of Republican overreach in the Michigan legislature was the passage of the legislation that became Public Act 297. Signed into law August, the law is described, in part, as “an act to protect the environment and natural resources of the state”. In his announcement about the signing of the bill into law with the Orwellian title “Snyder signs bill protecting sand dunes, rights of homeowners”, Governor Snyder had the audacity to say that he “worked with the bill sponsor to ensure Michigan’s dunes are protected for the benefit of present and future generations.”

The law does quite the opposite and is now getting its first customers. Click through for details.

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 […]