By Scott Sullivan
Editor
A Saugatuck Township developer cited last spring for over-digging a ski lake will be allowed to remove the resulting sand piles from his 47-acre site northwest of Blue Star Highway.
But Chad VanHorn, per the Michigan Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) department Oil, Gas and Minerals Division, cannot excavate his manmade water body southeast of 135th Avenue and 66th Street, around which he plans to develop and sell 14 homes, any further.
The division, reads EGLE’s notice last week to neighbor complainants, received a report in May 2020 sand was being mined from the site. The state, determining sand was being removed but not from the dune area nor being used for commercial or industrial purposes, ruled a permit at that time wasn’t needed.
VanHorn was apprised Aug. 3, 2020 that EGLE, had determined the lake so far was fewer than 5 acres, but should he enlarge it he would need to obtain a Part 301 permit per the 1994 Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to remove further sand for commercial purposes.
In response to an October complaint that year, the OMG division determined sand was being removed from the site and the dune area for commercial purposes. It cited VanHorn for that Oct. 22 and required him to:
• Cease mining and removing sand from the site,
• Identify the volume of sand removed and used for commercial purposes, and
• Submit a Part 637 application for a sand dune mining permit.
VanHorn ceased mining and sand removal activities at that point. Excavated sand remained stockpiled rising up to 70 feet east of the water body.
His agent then submitted Parts 301 and 637 permit applications, including requests to enlarge the lake to 10.7 acres. Later the volume of sand was reported to be 3,000 cubic yards, EGLE’s notice to neighbors said.
Afterwards the department’s Water Resources Division investigated the water body’s size, finding it at that time to be 6.7 acres (see nearby graphic), an almost 27-percent discrepancy from the 4.9 acres Saugatuck Township had permitted and the state advised VanHorn was the threshold without also EGLE permits.
The developer, issued a violation notice April 9 last year, responded that record-high Lake Michigan water levels had affected the nearby water table too, enlarging the lake past its size as first excavated.
VanHorn also last May withdrew his Part 301 permit application to expand the lake and revised his Part 637 application to move only existing sand from the site for commercial purposes.
Water levels have declined since that point, EGLE informed another complainant, Match-E-Be-Nash-She (Gun Lake) Band of Pottawatomi tribal chairman Bob Peters last week, so the lake once again fell to within the 5-acre limit.
“We recognize,” read agency’s letter to neighbors, “that this decision may not satisfy all parties; however, we are confident that it is the correct one and hope this document adequately responds to the comments which have been expressed.
“EGLE staff will monitor and oversee this project as it moves forward, and we will continue to hold the operator accountable and ensure that they adhere to Michigan regulations and requirements,” the letter said.