Articles & Publications

Municipal Articles

• ‘The All-Important zoning permit’
• What are Township Body “Workshops”
• Email Warning/Disclosure Regarding the Michigan Open Meetings Act
• The Michigan Right to Farm Act Renders Many Zoning Regulations Invalid
• Urban Farming and the Michigan Right to Farm Act
• Special Assessment District For Lakes (For Aquatic Weed Control Purposes) Made Easy
• Cemetery maintenance: More than mowing the lawn
• MTA Convention Outline – Water Law and Michigan Townships
• The 2000 Baum Family Trust v Babel Decision and Other Significant Plat Court Cases
• “Hot” Green Topics
• Total Redevelopment in the World of the Land Development Act
• 2000 MTA Land Division Seminar
• Municipal Civil Infractions – MTA News Article
• Variance Madness – Trying to Fit a Square Peg in a Round Hole
• Ten Years Hence – A Decade of the Land Division Act.
• The Michigan Supreme Court’s Decision in City of Novi vs. Robert Adell Children’s Funded Trust
• Uncharted Territory: The Impact of PA 577 on Rezonings
• Taking Aim at the LDA
• Navigating Private Road Issues
• Understanding Township Franchises
• Regulating Private Roads
• An Overview of Lakefront Development Legal Issues
• The Law of Nonconforming Use Seminar Outline
• Water Law – Get Your Feet Wet
• Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act Seminar
• Proper Municipal Minutes Drafting and Keeping

Presentations

• The 2014 Annual Michigan Townships Association Convention
• Open Meeting Act, FOIA, and Library Privacy Act
• Library Law
• Library Millage Elections and Millage Campaigns

Riparian/Water Law Articles

• Another Lake Road End Case
• Attorney Writes – “The Freedom to Assemble…”
• Attorney Writes – “Title Insurance”
• Attorney Writes – “Tips for Sellers of Waterfront Property”
• Attorney Writes – “Short-Term Rentals, Long-Term Consequences”
• “The Importance of Liability Insurance for Riparians”
• New Public Road End Law Passes Court Challenge
• Attorney Writes – “Bottomlands Ownership”
• Docks and Boat Hoists – Everything You Always Wanted to Know
• “I Can No Longer Even Enjoy My Lake…”
• Ask the Expert – View of Lake 2012
• Golf Cart News
• Attorney Writes – On-Lake Regulations
• Attorney Writes – Artificial or Real?
• “Passing the Buck” – Poor Rural Roads Around Lakes
• How Can I Use My Lakefront Cottage or House?
• What is “Riparian”?
• Liability Potentials for Associations
• Ask the Expert – Riparian Rights of Artificial Lakes
• You Cannot Give It Away…
• A Legal Primer
• Aquatic Special Assessment Districts – Mass Confusion?
• The Road Ends Problem – Solved – Almost
• Of Mosquitos and Killer Bees
• Can an ORV be Driven on the Beach?
• Another Court Case that Restricts Lake Access
• Attorney Writes – What are Easements?
• Lakefront Myths Other Lore
• Keeping the Family Cottage; New Tax Benefit for Transfers Between Parents and Children
• Attorney Writes – Miscellaneous Matters Regarding Docks and Swim Rafts
• Attorney Writes – Everything You Always Wanted to Know About…Plats!
• Land Gaps at Lakes
• New Limitations on Prescriptive Easement Claims at Private Road Ends and Similar Lake Access Sites
• Ask The Expert – Improper Dock and Boat Mooring at Road End
• Potpourri
• Unusual (But Potentially Helpful) Local Municipal Regulations
• Ask The Expert – Fall 2012
• You Can’t Do That : Deed Restrictions
• The New Public Road Ends at Lakes Law
• Attorney Writes – Spring 2012
• Public Road Ends
• Beach Walker
• Ask the Expert – Spring 2012
• Buying and Selling Waterfront Property in Michigan
• Buying and Selling Waterfront Property – The Pitfalls
• Ask The Expert – Winter 2012
• A New Road End Bill
• Water Law – Get Your Feet Wet
• MTA Convention Outline – Water Law and Michigan Townships
• Why ML&SA and MWA?
• Lake and Lake Access Issues
• Ask The Expert – Do I need any type of permit before I install my dock?
• Two more Interesting Lake Access Easement Cases
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
• Newaygo County Governmental Summit – “Statutory Lake Improvement Boards”
• Backlotter Maneuvers and Use of Lake Bottomlands
• 2000 Baum Family Trust v Babel – R.I.P.
• Dock Permits on Michigan Lakes Tied Into the Great Lakes
• Cottage and Lakefront Living Expo Materials
• To Litigate or Not to Litigate – That is the Question
• Natural Landscaping or Blight?
• Yours Mine or Theirs
• Lake Property Tax Assessments – To Appeal or Not
• Are Artifical Lakes in Michigan Real
• Important Riparian Appellate Cases
• Proposed Legislation Regarding the Public Trust Doctrine
• You Win Some You Lose Some
• Take Advantage of the Pause
• A Clearcut Riparian Victory in Barry County
• Michigan Supreme Court to Hear Appeal
• MLSA and the MWA Word for You – Amicus Briefs
• Weed Whacker
• The 2000 Baum Family Trust v Babel Appeal
• 2000 Baum Case Decision Disaster
• Yet Another Pro Riparian Case
• Action Alert on Important Riparian Case
• Amicus Brief Co-Authored by Cliff Bloom
• Oh-Oh… Parallel Roads at Lakes Case
• Montcalm County judge applies Jacobs v Lyon Twp in a Road End Case
• Two More Pro-Riparian Road End Court Opinions
• Amicus Curaie Briefs – Are Working for You
• Enforcement!
• Am I a Lakefront Property Owner?
• Important Magician Lake Homewoners Assn, IncV Keller Township Appellate Case
• Riparians and Estate Planning
• New Michigan Court of Appeals Decision Regarding Riparian Boundary Lines
• Riparian’s and Estate Planning
• Michigan Supreme Court Agrees to Review the decision in Tomechk v. Bavas
• The Michigan Supreme Court Reverses the Sunseekers Decision
• Free Lake Weed Treatment?
• Riparianism for the Great Lakes
• Wetlands (Not Swamps)
• Docks
• Odds and Ends
• Buyer and Builder Beware!
• Another Riparian Victory in the Michigan Court of Appeals
• Debunking Myths
• Debunking Myths – Part II
• The Beach Walker Case
• New Michigan Appellate Cases
• Associations – What Good Are They?
• Who Pulled The Plug on My Lake?
• What is “Navigability”?
• What Hath the Michigan Court of Appeals Wrought?
• What Happens if the Dog Catches the Car?
• What Can Be Done to Regulate Jet Skis and Personal Watercraft?
• The Top Ten Excuses–Are Your Kidding?!
• Survey Stakes
• An Overview of Lakefront Development Legal Issues
• On Water–Does Anything Go?
• A Blueprint to Protect Your Lake
• No More Excuses for Municipalities!
• Riparian Recent Events
• Liability Concerns
• Recent Michigan Appellate Cases of Interest
• “But the Realtor Told Me…”
• Why is Insurance So Important for Lake Properties?
• Dormant Lake Access
• The Top Eleven Threats to Riparians
• Battle at Higgins Lake – Grand Rapids Press Article
• Adverse Possession and Prescriptive Easements
• A Modest Proposal
• Current Topics of Interest
• Dock Wars
• Drainage Issues
• Funneling – Bad
• Getting in the Zone
• Incorporation
• Keeping it in the Family
• Lake Access – Keyhole Ordinances
• Maximum Enforcement
• Michigan Supreme Court refuses to hear a further appeal of the Higgins Lake Property Owners Association
• No Lake Access
• One Definition of Chutzpah
• Permit Requirements
• Preemption and Local Control
• Pro-Riparian Michigan Appellate Court Cases Regarding Lake Access Easements
• Properties Boundaries
• Public Accesses – Rights and Limitations
• Recent Cases of Interest
• Recent Enacted Statutes and Current Issues
• Riparian Rights and Other Legal Matters
• TRESPASS!
• Trojan Horse
• Urban Sprawl
• Weed Control
• What to do About Unreasonably Long Docks
• Where the Public Can Walk on the Beaches
• Wither Ice Mountain
• Zoning Tools