August 22, 2003

MICHIGAN SEA GRANT STUDY SHOWS SERIOUS COASTAL GROWTH PRESSURE AND PLANNING GAPS

Significant improvements in land use planning along Michigan’s shorelines have occurred over the past several years, but serious gaps remain, according to a Michigan Sea Grant study.

Suburban sprawl and most other issues identified in the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council’s final report, released August 18, are even worse for coastal communities.

"What happens on the land is a major factor in determining whether individual components of this complex system [the Great Lakes] will remain healthy," the council’s report states.

The Sea Grant report, Status of Planning and Zoning in Michigan’s Great Lakes Shoreline Communities, revealed the following problems:

**Great Lakes shoreline properties continue to receive a disproportionate amount of development pressure compared with inland real estate.
**Michigan is following a low-density coastal land development pattern, with people moving out of cities and small towns to develop rural greenfields.
**Sprawling development is causing fragmentation of coastal habitat, especially wetlands and dunes.
**Development threatens public access to coastal areas and the seclusion found in large, undeveloped tracts.

A 2002 Sea Grant survey of all 338 political divisions identified several reasons for the problems:

** Land use planning is not coordinated across coastal regions or ecosystems, and planning remains fragmented.
** Nearly two out of three coastal communities do not have professional planners on staff.
** Local regulations that define coastal-dependent economic uses and protect coastal natural resources such as dunes, wetlands and high-risk erosion areas are uncommon.

"If these trends continue, unplanned development will cause long-term cumulative problems for coastal ecosystems and regional economies," says Mike Klepinger, Extension specialist for sustainable coastal community development and author of the Sea Grant report. "In the long run, coastal development will not be sustainable unless land use planning is improved in and between Michigan’s coastal communities."

The study noted progress in the following areas:

** Eighty percent of coastal jurisdictions now have a master plan to guide development.
** Jurisdictions with master plans were four times more likely to have one of three coastal protection laws in place than those with no master plans.
** Those responsible for planning and zoning are increasingly using sophisticated planning tools -- particularly geographic information systems -- in their work.

Klepinger is pleased that the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council is recommending support for planning and zoning educational programs.

"Local commissioners are trustees of Michigan’s Great Lakes coastal environment; they need these programs and tools to do their jobs well," he says. "It’s encouraging that the council is suggesting that the state provide incentives for participating in educational programs."

To obtain a printed copy, request MICHU #03-600 from Michigan Sea Grant Publications at (734) 764-1118 or msgpubs@umich.edu.