Neighbors object to Hutchins Lake marina plans

By Scott Sullivan
Editor
Fifty-seven Hutchins Lake residents have sued to stop a developer from building what they call an illegally-permitted marina on the lake’s northeast side.
David DeGroot, whose DeGroot Family Trust owns 79 acres, subdivided into 11 lots, with 500 feet of frontage west of where 59th Street dead ends at a public boat launch, has since 2020 sought to connect yet-unbuilt inland homes via easement to lakefront access.
On March 23, 2021, the Michigan Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) department, without public hearing, granted him a permit to:

• Fill in 3,000 square feet of wetlands to construct a driveway;
• Bury three l8-inch diameter culverts, each two feet long, into the wetlands;
• Build 150 feet of elevated boardwalks over and into the wetlands; and
• Place 250 feet of riprap along the shoreline.
  Neighbors objected, claiming doing so interrupts the natural flow of wetlands into the lake and would cause irreparable harm to lake spawning beds, water quality and traffic safety at the nearby launch ramp.
  After a May 9 public hearing, EGLE July 11 that year denied DeGroot a permit to build a 61-foot permanent open-pile dock, linking to more docks and finger piers, on lake bottomland and wetlands near his cove-shaped shoreline.
  To do so, the developer would have placed about 29 cubic yards of clean offsite sand in a 35 x 14-foot wetland 1.4 feet deep.
  The 376-acre lake lies two miles southwest of Fennville, with portions in both Clyde and Ganges townships. Its average depth is 10.1 feet, with much of DeGroot’s cove shallower.
  EGLE environmental engineer Jason Combs agreed with neighbors that proposal would harm the lake bottomland plus the public’s right to navigate and fish there.
  “It appears there are feasible and prudent alternatives that include parcel owners using the adjacent public boat launch,” Combs’ denial letter said.
  DeGroot came back with revised plans, one of which Combs approved July 27 last year. It would relocate the permanent dock, served by eight seasonal finger piers, to the west side of his shoreline, outside the cove’s fish-spawning area, served by a 14-foot-long boardwalk over wetlands connecting to inland lots.
  Combs claimed eliminating the first-proposed day-use dock removes direct wetland impacts and meets state navigation standards of at least 1.5 times the length of the slip from riparian boundaries. Thus, he said, it addresses conflicts with the public launch ramp.
  The permit requires DeGroot to install a turbidity curtain to avoid sedimentation and no in-water work from March 1 through June 30 to avoid impacts to fisheries.
  Neighbors filed an injunction to halt work last month in Allegan County Circuit Court, claiming Clyde Township violated its own anti-funneling ordinance when approving DeGroot’s then-planned boardwalk April 20, 2021. Non-fronting owners do not have riparian rights, it says.
  They contend the revised, now-approved plan will still impair or destroy vital plant and wildlife habitat, fish spawning areas and nearby wetlands. The suit too seeks remediation for tree removal and other work already done on site.
  DeGroot’s response brief filed April 10 contends neighbors’ allegations reflect their own motives and intentions, lack information to back their claims and, by way of the legal permitting process, been shown untrue.
  “Defendants pray,” it says, “for a judgment of no cause for action on all counts, denial to plaintiffs of any relief requested, and for defendants’ attomey fees and costs to the extent law permits.”