Home Resiliency Regulation Example Regulations
Example Regulations
Here is a list of example ordinances by jurisdiction. You can use our find tool to filter by other criteria, or use our text search to search ordinance text.
Cheboygan
County in Michigan
Cheboygan County has the distinction of having more water surface than any other county in the State of Michigan. 77.3 square miles (9.69% of its area) are inland waters. The county has 344 inland lakes, 420 miles of streams, and 32 miles of Lake Huron shoreline.
Chikaming
Township in Michigan
The township Zoning Ordinance provides shoreline protection along Lake Michigan in Critical Dune areas and floodplains. The township has also adopted a Floodplain Ordinance (Ordinance 35) and a Shoreline Armoring ordinance (Ordinance 147).
Chocolay
Township in Michigan
The township is located southeast of the City of Marquette in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Chocolay used to be home to sawmills, rock quarries, and a blast furnace for melting metals in its earlier days after it was founded in the 1860s. Today, the township works hard to honor the past while preserving the natural features in the area, including nearly 13 miles of Lake Superior Coastline.
Clark
Township in Michigan
The township is located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and includes several islands, some of which are inhabited and others that are not. The ordinance has language that discourages development in areas that are located within the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM), however, it does not completely prohibit activity.
Elberta
Village in Michigan
Nestled between Lake Michigan and Betsie Lake across from neighboring Frankfort in the northern portion of Michigan’s lower peninsula, Elberta is a small village with a beautiful natural beach and dune areas. While the zoning language is not specific in some cases to the key measures, there is language specific to wetland regulations that addresses the importance of their role in the overall lake ecosystem in Section 20.37.
Garfield
Township in Michigan
Garfield Township is located in the western part of Mackinac County along Lake Michigan. Historically, the township has been popular for its natural resources (i.e., commercial fishing, lumbering and agriculture). The township has a Great Lakes Shoreland District along Lake Michigan which recognizes the fragile ecosystem in the coastal area, while at the same time permitting residential and recreational development and limiting other uses that are compatible with the area.
Grand Haven
City in Michigan
An example of overlay districts used to apply certain standards to parcels located within multiple zoning districts and is intended to protect, conserve and promote specific areas within the city on where there are elements of environmental significance such as dunes, beaches, shorelines, rivers or streams, and wetlands. The City uses a two-prong approach by having a Sensitive Areas Overlay District and a Beach Overlay District. Both have standards that are applied in addition to the underlying zoning. Zoning Ordinance Sections 40-422 – 40-423.03
Luce
County in Michigan
Luce County is home to one of the two famous Tahquamenon Falls (the upper falls being in Luce County and the lower falls in Chippewa County), Newberry State Forest, and over 30 miles of pristine Lake Superior shoreline. Luce County has very few revetments or development along the coastline. Zoning codes require large lots and setbacks from Lake Superior as well as regulations for floodplain usage and building requirements.
Manistee
City in Michigan
Manistee requires an increased setback from any natural or man-made water feature including, but not limited to, Lake Michigan, the Manistee River, and Manistee Lake. Setbacks are prescribed by zoning district and applies to any land adjacent to a water feature. Structures such as buildings are not permitted within the 100-year flood plain. The city also requires an additional setback from water features to preserve bluff lines to prevent erosion.
Marquette
City in Michigan
The largest City in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is home to several academic institutions and businesses and is a hub for commerce in the region as well as cargo shipping. In 2011, Marquette took note in their Master Plan of the sensitive ecosystems that existed and began the process of developing ordinances to help protect these valuable resources. In order to mitigate erosion and sediment that could reduce the quality of the water entering watersheds or Lake Superior, the City developed a Riparian Overlay District Ordinance to regulate non-point source pollution from entering these delicate ecosystems.
Norton Shores
City in Michigan
Norton Shores is one of the communities that has worked with the Coastal Zone Management Program in Michigan. The community is situated along Lake Michigan and is part of the Muskegon metropolitan area and is home to approximately 6 miles of lake shoreline and 770 acres of dune lands. The City has developed ordinances for shorelands, flood hazard zones, and other environmentally sensitive areas.
Rogers City
City in Michigan
Rogers City is located in Presque Isle County on the shores of Lake Huron in the northeast section of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The City is home to the largest limestone quarry in the world which features a deep-water port that serves stone shipping fleets. The community values the natural ecosystem that exists within the waterways and on the Lake Huron shoreline as they provide several opportunities for recreation and are home to a wide variety of fish and wildlife species.
South Haven
Township in Michigan
The township has a shoreline protection overlay district ordinance that includes all land located within 300 feet of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers High Water Mark. Additionally, the township has adopted an environmental conservation ordinance that provides provisions to promote the conservation or wise use of important nonrenewable natural resources and to protect the desirable qualities of the natural environment.
St. Joseph
City in Michigan
St. Joseph has developed zoning regulations that regulate development and redevelopment in floodplains and that limit development and hardening along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The city also has specified Special Flood Hazard Areas and provides guidance and regulations to better mitigate potential damage done by floodwaters such as erosion, loss of property, loss of frontage, and loss of habitat.
Torch Lake
Township in Michigan
The township is in a very unique location in the northern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan. With Torch Lake, one of the State’s largest inland lakes, on the east side and Lake Michigan on the west side, water plays an integral role in the township’s identity and livelihood. The township does regulate the installation of native plantings and the proximity of structures to coastlines.