Saugatuck Dunes, Michigan
Saugatuck Dunes, Michigan
Photo: MaryLou Graham, NatureShapesPhoto.com
Saugatuck is only 90 miles by boat from Chicago, but a visit to the
classic resort town is like a step back in time. Among its many charms
are beaches distinguished by the rare freshwater dunes formed by the
waves of Lake Michigan. "Right now, you can see the dunes very much as
Europeans saw them 200 years ago," says David Swan, president of the
Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance. Yet they may be in peril. The issue: a
development proposed for a parcel of beachfront just outside the gates
of Saugatuck Dunes State Park.
While the developer maintains that preserving the local culture and
ecology are its top priorities, critics contend that the plan to build
about 30 homes, a nine-hole golf course, a 66-slip marina, and a small
hotel and condos heralds a drastic and deplorable change. Among the
worries: The hotel's nine-story tower would forever alter a landscape
that has drawn artists for centuries, and the construction will harm the
fragile ecology of the 200-foot-high dunes. Local zoning laws prohibit
anything of the scale being proposed, but the developer has filed a
series of lawsuits to change them. In response, Saugatuck residents
recently voted to raise taxes for a legal defense fund. Meanwhile, the
National Trust for Historic Preservation named Saugatuck Dunes on its
2010 list of the country's most endangered historic places, and the
developer has threatened to sue for defamation. Much of the shore
remains protected, including Oval Beach, its best-known stretch, and an
adjacent parcel the developer sold back to the municipality and state
for conservation. But the rest of the shoreline—and the future of the
town—hang in the balance.
If you go: Stay at the Sea
Suites Boat & Breakfast, an inn located on a 105-foot houseboat
docked right outside town. It has four large air-conditioned suites with
private baths, and a hot tub on the top deck.
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