10-14-2006, 02:33 AM
Pat your self on the back, my arm isnt long enough.
looks like the language of the bill will have to be cleaned up before it will be allowed to proceed.
Meeting on road ends bill postponed
[url "http://www.spinalcolumnonline.com/1editorialtablebody.lasso?-token.searchtype=authorroutine&-token.lpsearchstring=Josh%20Jackett&-nothing"]Josh Jackett[/url]![[Image: z.gif]](http://www.spinalcolumnonline.com/images/z.gif)
October 11, 2006 - A meeting to bring together several parties in favor of and against the possibility of docks being built at road endings located at inland lakes or streams has been postponed for about a month, according to the lakes area sponsor of a road ends bill.
Road ends are places where roadways dead end at the banks of a lake or stream. Most road ends were created more than a century ago to provide public access to lakes, rivers and streams, but were intended only to be used for entering and exiting a body of water. In recent years, some road ends have been increasingly used as places to swim, lounge, fish, install docks and anchor boats.
State Rep. John Stakoe (R-Highland, White Lake) said a Thursday, Oct. 5 meeting to discuss HB 4576 among lobbyists and various lake representatives, has been pushed back from its originally scheduled date to Thursday, Nov. 2.
"One of the other representatives I've been working on the issue with contacted me about (postponing the meeting)," he said.
According to Stakoe, the other representative contacted him to tell him there have been recent discussions between the two sides in what Stakoe said is the most contentious area of the state on the issue: The recent talks were reportedly held between lakefront property owners on Higgins and Houghton lakes in Roscommon County and others who live near the lakes and install seasonal docks at road ends.
"He asked to put the meeting off until December, which I thought wasn't appropriate," Stakoe said. "If we could come to some sort of resolution (in December) and we put a substitute in the bill, we would never be able to get it passed through the lame duck (legislative session). I would then probably have to reintroduce the bill in January."
Stakoe said that at the group's request, he agreed to push back the meeting date because any discussions the Roscommon County parties are having on the issue of road ends could help during the meeting to discuss his bill.
"I didn't want to put it off, but if they're making some movement, which was their indication, I'd just rather wait and see what happens," he said.
HB 4576, which Stakoe introduced March 24, 2005 and has been slightly altered by three substitutes since then, would add a new section to the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act regarding the construction of boat hoists or seasonal docks at public road ends that provide access to inland streams and lakes.
Under HB 4576, installing boat hoists and large docks would be prohibited by law, unless allowed by permit. The bill would also make it illegal to dock a boat overnight and to obstruct access to a lake. The bill would allow for a dock smaller than 4-feet wide and 25-feet long to be constructed for public access, unless prohibited by a local ordinance.
Local municipalities would have the authority to issue tickets to those found violating the law. A violator would be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a $500 fine per day.
Stakoe said the bill is basically the same as HB 4141, which he introduced during the 2003-04 legislative session. That bill received a hearing before the House Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Committee but was not reported by the committee to the full House floor. It was eventually discharged from the committee and a substitute was adopted, but a final vote to pass it was never held.
Stakoe said he reintroduced the proposal in 2005 with its new number. Upon its original introduction, it was referred to the House Local Government and Urban Policy Committee before a substitute was added in June 2005, after which it was referred to the House Government Operations Committee, where Stakoe said it hasn't moved.
"There hasn't been anywhere to go with the bill up until this point," he said. "Then we decided to have this meeting where we plan to just lock ourselves down to see if we can get it somewhere."
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in 2003 that the public may use road ends as an access point to and from water, but cannot use them for lounging, sunbathing, picnicking or the building of boat hoists or docks. The decision stemmed from a case involving a road end on Higgins Lake in Gerrish Township.
The court suggested that a legislative solution be used to control road end activity.
While Stakoe's bill would provide a means to restrict activities at road ends, a bill introduced by Rep. Dale Sheltrown (D-Gladwin) would provide greater use of public road ends.
[#ff0000]Sheltrown's bill (HB 4578) would also restrict the use of boat hoists and docks[/#ff0000]. [#0000ff]But, in cases where the public road end is located within a recorded plat, each property owner within the plat would permitted such activities as sunbathing, lounging, picnicking, seasonal docks and temporary boat hoists at the road end.[/#0000ff]
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looks like the language of the bill will have to be cleaned up before it will be allowed to proceed.
Meeting on road ends bill postponed
[url "http://www.spinalcolumnonline.com/1editorialtablebody.lasso?-token.searchtype=authorroutine&-token.lpsearchstring=Josh%20Jackett&-nothing"]Josh Jackett[/url]
October 11, 2006 - A meeting to bring together several parties in favor of and against the possibility of docks being built at road endings located at inland lakes or streams has been postponed for about a month, according to the lakes area sponsor of a road ends bill.Road ends are places where roadways dead end at the banks of a lake or stream. Most road ends were created more than a century ago to provide public access to lakes, rivers and streams, but were intended only to be used for entering and exiting a body of water. In recent years, some road ends have been increasingly used as places to swim, lounge, fish, install docks and anchor boats.
State Rep. John Stakoe (R-Highland, White Lake) said a Thursday, Oct. 5 meeting to discuss HB 4576 among lobbyists and various lake representatives, has been pushed back from its originally scheduled date to Thursday, Nov. 2.
"One of the other representatives I've been working on the issue with contacted me about (postponing the meeting)," he said.
According to Stakoe, the other representative contacted him to tell him there have been recent discussions between the two sides in what Stakoe said is the most contentious area of the state on the issue: The recent talks were reportedly held between lakefront property owners on Higgins and Houghton lakes in Roscommon County and others who live near the lakes and install seasonal docks at road ends.
"He asked to put the meeting off until December, which I thought wasn't appropriate," Stakoe said. "If we could come to some sort of resolution (in December) and we put a substitute in the bill, we would never be able to get it passed through the lame duck (legislative session). I would then probably have to reintroduce the bill in January."
Stakoe said that at the group's request, he agreed to push back the meeting date because any discussions the Roscommon County parties are having on the issue of road ends could help during the meeting to discuss his bill.
"I didn't want to put it off, but if they're making some movement, which was their indication, I'd just rather wait and see what happens," he said.
HB 4576, which Stakoe introduced March 24, 2005 and has been slightly altered by three substitutes since then, would add a new section to the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act regarding the construction of boat hoists or seasonal docks at public road ends that provide access to inland streams and lakes.
Under HB 4576, installing boat hoists and large docks would be prohibited by law, unless allowed by permit. The bill would also make it illegal to dock a boat overnight and to obstruct access to a lake. The bill would allow for a dock smaller than 4-feet wide and 25-feet long to be constructed for public access, unless prohibited by a local ordinance.
Local municipalities would have the authority to issue tickets to those found violating the law. A violator would be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a $500 fine per day.
Stakoe said the bill is basically the same as HB 4141, which he introduced during the 2003-04 legislative session. That bill received a hearing before the House Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Committee but was not reported by the committee to the full House floor. It was eventually discharged from the committee and a substitute was adopted, but a final vote to pass it was never held.
Stakoe said he reintroduced the proposal in 2005 with its new number. Upon its original introduction, it was referred to the House Local Government and Urban Policy Committee before a substitute was added in June 2005, after which it was referred to the House Government Operations Committee, where Stakoe said it hasn't moved.
"There hasn't been anywhere to go with the bill up until this point," he said. "Then we decided to have this meeting where we plan to just lock ourselves down to see if we can get it somewhere."
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in 2003 that the public may use road ends as an access point to and from water, but cannot use them for lounging, sunbathing, picnicking or the building of boat hoists or docks. The decision stemmed from a case involving a road end on Higgins Lake in Gerrish Township.
The court suggested that a legislative solution be used to control road end activity.
While Stakoe's bill would provide a means to restrict activities at road ends, a bill introduced by Rep. Dale Sheltrown (D-Gladwin) would provide greater use of public road ends.
[#ff0000]Sheltrown's bill (HB 4578) would also restrict the use of boat hoists and docks[/#ff0000]. [#0000ff]But, in cases where the public road end is located within a recorded plat, each property owner within the plat would permitted such activities as sunbathing, lounging, picnicking, seasonal docks and temporary boat hoists at the road end.[/#0000ff]
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