FAQs on Standing and the Marina
What is standing and why does it matter?
Standing is a gate-keeping function that helps ensure lawsuits are brought by parties who have first-hand interest in the matter, who have ‘skin in the game.’
Standing is required to appeal zoning decisions. When the Coastal Alliance appealed the Saugatuck Township Planning Commission’s decision to grant NorthShore of Saugatuck a permit for its proposed marina, the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) said we lacked standing to challenge the decision. We appealed the ZBA’s decision in the courts culminating with a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court in 2022 that changed and clarified the criteria for standing.
How did Michigan’s Supreme Court change the criteria for standing?
The Michigan Supreme Court clarified what it means to be an ‘aggrieved party’ – i.e., to be more heavily ‘burdened’ by a zoning decision than others – and provided examples:
“We observe, for example, that the Court of Appeals’ evaluation of the alleged special damages incurred by waterfront property owners and river-using business owners in the present matter seems at odds with another unpublished decision that was decided about a month later. See Deer Lake Prop Owners Ass’n v Indep Charter Twp, unpublished per curiam opinion of the Court of Appeals, issued October 10, 2019 (Docket No. 343965), p 9 (holding that a lakefront property owners’ association was aggrieved by a special-land-use approval when the association alleged “that the additional docks may disrupt or destroy the shoreline and its ecosystem” because, “[a]s riparian owners who share this shoreline, [the members of the association] have an interest beyond that of other lake users, the public at large, or even similarly situated neighbors”).” (p. 29, July 22, 2022, Michigan Supreme Court Decision)
How does the new criteria, which is now Michigan law, apply to Coastal Alliance members?
The Bily/Wallace family owns a cottage on Dugout Road, immediately adjacent to the NorthShore property and thus sharing the shoreline. Chris Deam’s cottage is directly across from the NorthShore property. Their proximity to the proposed marina means that they have an interest beyond that of other lake users, the public at large, or even similarly situated neighbors.
As our legal team has explained, standing is not an exclusive club, it’s not a one in a million – it can be an inclusive club. A variety of people can, and do, meet the criteria for standing. For example, businesses that rely on safe passage through the river mouth have an interest beyond that of businesses at the highway interchanges or along the Blue Star Highway. Coastal Alliance members who live within the Critical Dune Overlay have an interest beyond community members who live in Agricultural Areas.
An Interest Beyond Others in the Local Community
The Billy/Wallace Family (rightmost star) and Chris Deam (leftmost star), who own property immediately adjacent to and across from the proposed marina, have an interest beyond “the public at large or even similarly situated neighbors,” e.g., people living in Dune Grass or Clearbrook.
What are the other criteria required for standing?
There are three criteria for standing:
Participation in the challenged proceedings
A protected interest, e.g., a protected personal, monetary, or property right that is likely to be affected by the decision being challenged
Evidence of being more heavily ‘burdened’ by a zoning decision than others (‘aggrieved party’)
The 2022 Michigan Supreme Court decision clarified the third requirement, as explained above.
What is the status of the Saugatuck Township marina permit?
The Coastal Alliance is still in the process of contesting the Township’s permit, which was issued in 2017. As you may recall, the Township said the Coastal Alliance didn’t have standing to challenge the permit, which started multi-year litigation.
Following the Michigan State Supreme Court’s ruling that clarified the criteria for standing, which is now Michigan law, the lawsuit was sent back to Allegan County Circuit Court, which then directed the Saugatuck Township Zoning Board of Appeals to determine whether the Coastal Alliance meets the new criteria. Their determination will go to the Allegan County Circuit Court, which can accept its decision, modify it, or reject it. We expect the next ZBA hearing to be held on May 16.
Didn’t the marina permit expire?
Yes. According to the Township’s Code of Ordinances (Section 40-693), NorthShore’s permit has expired:
“[a]ny property which is the subject of a Special Approval Use permit which has not been used for the purposes for which such special approval was granted for a period of six consecutive months without acceptable just cause beyond the control of the owner being shown to the Planning Commission shall thereafter be required to be used only for permissible Uses as set forth in the particular zoning classification, and the permit for such Special Approval Use shall thereupon terminate.”
Yet, for whatever reason, the Township has refused to terminate the permit.
