Mar. 1—TRAVERSE CITY — Whether it’s bayshores, lakefront, river banks or creeks, Traverse City has plenty of waterfronts.

Soon, planning commissioners will refloat a committee to draft shoreline protection rules after several factors combined to bog down a past attempt.

Anna Dituri, a planning commissioner who served on a previous committee that worked from fall 2019 into spring 2022, said she’ll help to draft an ordinance that’s among the commission’s top priorities for 2024. She pointed to neighboring townships’ rules that protect waterfronts, whereas Traverse City has none.

State law and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy provide some protections along some waterways, but for others it’s up to local governments, Dituri said.

“There are water bodies that are very important to this region that don’t fall under the purview of EGLE,” she said.

Work that the first riparian buffer committee did to draft rules protecting local waterways, like creeks, seemed to Dituri like its most valuable efforts, she said. That included walking tours that revealed just how differently property owners treated their waterfronts — one Boardman Lake property included a wide strip of natural vegetation along the water, while another with Kids Creek in their backyard had a chain-link fence running through the creek bed.

Rules drafted by that earlier committee haven’t gone anywhere, with City Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht raising concerns over legal issues and planners questioning how the Downtown Development Authority’s Lower Boardman River Unified Plan would fit with the ordinance.

Then the pandemic hit, and longtime city Planner Russ Soyring retired in early 2021, Dituri said.

But those past efforts weren’t wasted — and Dituri said she’s optimistic that the new committee can borrow not only from previous legwork, but potentially the prior draft ordinance as well.

This time, the committee will put a greater emphasis on educating and engaging the public, she said. Outside experts can help make the case that shorelines are worth protecting.

Two other planning commissioners have agreed to serve, city Sustainability Coordinator Leslie Sickterman said. Shea O’Brien and Mitch Treadwell are set to join Dituri.

Planning Commission Chairwoman Debbie Hershey will also choose from 16 applicants who either live on a waterfront or own property on one, Sickterman said.

Plans are to pick one from each of four waterfront types — Grand Traverse Bay, Boardman Lake, Kids Creek and the Boardman/Ottaway River.

City staff will also take part, including representatives from the engineering, parks, planning and public services departments.

Outside subject matter experts, like EGLE and Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay representatives, could join as well.

Riparian rights vary, depending on the type of waterfront, and that can complicate any effort to regulate shoreline or streamside activities, city Planner Shawn Winter said. So Trible-Laucht will advise the committee as it works.

Her level of involvement will depend on what the committee’s “rhythm” is as it works on the ordinance, Trible-Laucht said. She could attend meetings as needed.

Sickterman said the committee should meet five or so times, with the goal of presenting a draft to planning commissioners by the fall. She expected Hershey to finalize the appointments within the week, with its first meeting coming in early March.

Dituri said those meetings are likely to be in the evenings, making it easier for the public to attend — compared to the previous committee’s daytime meetings.

“I think it will be more accessible this time around,” she said.