Critical Dunes
The unique beauty of being a coastal community with inland lakes at every turn comes with immense benefits. Natural elements, environmental diversity, and exotic sunsets. Of course, we each celebrate taking advantage of that when we can and in a myriad of ways. Some of us are even blessed to own land in and around these natural elements. Without surprise, RootBound often gets hired to help folk navigate these settings. People want to swim, boat, sit, and rest with as deeply immersed experiences as possible. We get those questions regularly (my sea wall is failing, I want a deck over the bluff for views, wouldn’t a vanishing line pool be cool if it looked like it dropped into the lake?).
As many of you know, working in and around: water, marshes, lakes, and dunes, can bring a unique set of challenges. In Michigan, these are looked after by several institutions. Army Corp of Engineers likes to generally be involved when work happens at or below water lines. Local zoning and building departments, and Soil Erosion and Sediment Control (SESC) all need satisfying. Specifically, Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) takes a leading role when we propose work in these special areas.
We use a number of sources to identify what limits properties have or how close to these elements they are which may impact our projects. We help navigate that preplanning and permitting with owners and contractors regularly. And we have developed a few helpful points over the years.
Check early – it impacts direction in design plans and if permitting is needed these take months.
Look at all appropriate authorities – they don’t talk well with each other and it’s no fun finding out at the 11th hour you’re missing something!
Have a positive attitude - Some are easy and affordable, some are the opposite, but they will happen anyway and are never as bad as one would think.
Don’t try to slip under the wire – They are all paying closer attention in the last few years, neighbors talk and it’s just easier to do it correctly from the start.
Generally, these are good, important processes in place to help our community fight erosion, preserve the natural beauty, and keep properties flourishing for years to come.