End of the Road for Beach Use?

sign at end of 121st Ave (photo by Dennis R.J. Geppert, Holland Sentinel)

based on a news item in the Grand Rapids Press

For about ten years the courts have been trying to determine whether people can use the beach at the end of the road in Ganges Township, Michigan. Access to Lake Michigan has never been in question. The issue is whether people can picnic, sunbathe, and make use of the beach area in other ways. The road easement is for travel, and does not actually provide for a public beach. In the 1800's there was a tannery, pier, and village at the end of the road. All these have vanished, leaving only the dead end road.

This week, the Michigan Court of Appeals was scheduled to hear the case. On one side are the landowners on each side of the road end. They are tired of litter, noise, and trespassing. On the other hand, neighbors and other people have been regularly using this access for over 40 years, and they say that this gives them the rights of "adverse possession." Ganges Township sides with those who desire to use the beach.

The case is important because of the precedent it can set for other road ends on Lake Michigan. Yet the situation is so confused that there are actually conflicting signs about allowed uses at the 121st Street road end.

No news report has followed as yet, giving a decision.

See Road End Public Access Changes
See Beachwalkers- Michigan and Ohio Hold Opposing Views
See End of the Road for Public Beach, in the Holland Sentinel
These links are checked on the date of the article. As the article ages, some links may become invalid

Go To www.getoffthecouchnews.blogspot.com for all the news
See Get Off The Couch

Pentwater Junior Sailing Venue Claims Legal Use

The Pentwater (Michigan) village council voted Monday to move the summer's Junior Sailing Program from the Pentwater Yacht Club to the village launch ramp. The move was first suggested because more participants come from the public at large than from Yacht Club membership.

However, a question of riparian rights was posed by a neighbor of the village ramp, Chuck Timmer. His claim is that anyone wading from the ramp into the lake on the east side will be trespassing on his property.

The village attorney Gary Nicholson researched the issue and learned that there are two reasons which make this claim unlikely to hold up. First, riparian lines are drawn perpendicularly to the centerline of the lake. With a DEQ map of the lake, lines drawn to the shore at the property boundaries indicate that there is enough room for sailing program participants to use the east side of the ramp.

Secondly, the state has continually upheld the rights of anyone to use an entire body of water for recreational purposes if the water is reached through a legal access.

Timmer's attorney responded that the laws could be interpreted in different ways and suggested that his client would pursue the question in court.

from the Ludington Daily News, by Cindy Shafer, "Junior Sailing Program to Move", Feb 12, 2008 (article not available on line)
See Pentwater Considers Public Venue for Junior Sailing Race, Jan 16, 2007
These links are checked on the date of the article. As the article ages, some links may become invalid

Go To www.getoffthecouchnews.blogspot.com for all the news
See Boating
See Get Off The Couch

Beachwalkers- Michigan and Ohio Hold Opposing Views

In July 2005 the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the right of walkers to pass along any private shoreline property as long as they are anywhere between the water's edge and the ordinary high water mark - the spot on the shore where continuous water action leaves a distinctive mark. Justice Maura Corrigan, the Supreme Court majority said land below the high water mark was historically state property and a public-trust interest remained under common law even after the property was sold to a private owner.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, meaning that the decision would stand.

Property rights activists expressed disappointment. But it seems that this group will have its way in Ohio, at least for a while. Ohio has historically claimed ownership over all land from the high-water mark to the water, even if landowners' deeds said ownership extended to the water's edge.

Naturally a lawsuit has followed. A trial court in Ohio has held that the public trust stops at the water's edge. The Ohio court said that it was not persuaded by the Michigan decision. Appeals are expected.

Walkers Rights advocates
Michigan Land Use Institute, "Court's Hathcock Ruling Offers Clues to Beach Walking Suit", Jul 10, 2005
Michigan Land Use Institute, "Tear Down Those Fences", Aug 2, 2005
Property Rights advocates
See Times-Gazette, "A great (lake) ruling for landowners", Hillsboro, Ohio, by Patrick J. Wright, Jan 19, 2008
Save Our Shoreline
These links are checked on the date of the article. As the article ages, some links may become invalid

Go To www.getoffthecouchnews.blogspot.com for all the news
See Get Off The Couch

Pentwater Considers Public Venue for Junior Sailing Race

The Pentwater, Michigan, Village Council is considering a request to move the Yacht Club's annual junior sailing competition to the village launch ramp area. About 90% of the participants come from the general public, not from the Club's membership.

One local resident voiced concerns that the staging area would spill over into his property.

The village attorney is reviewing the issue.

from the Ludington Daily News, "Pentwater Junior Sailing Program May Move", Jan 15, 2008, article not available on line
These links are checked on the date of the article. As the article ages, some links may become invalid

Go To www.getoffthecouchnews.blogspot.com for all the news
See Boating