Currently around 250 miles of shoreline are designated as high risk erosion areas along the shorelines of Lakes Michigan, Superior and Huron. Township maps show the locations and setbacks for each of the areas.
Local townships provided the property tax identification numbers at the time of the high risk erosion area designation. Due to parcel splits and combinations the property tax identification numbers may change yet the designation runs with the land so the resulting parcels are also designated and will require a permit for regulated structures.
If, after using one of the sites to determine if your property is in a high risk erosion area, there are questions about whether the property is in a high risk erosion area please contact local EGLE staff.
EGLE staff conduct county wide studies to determine the recession rate of the shoreline. The rates of recession are determined by comparing the location of the erosion hazard line of the shoreline on historic and modern aerial photographs. Additional information from fieldwork, and shoreline photos are used to aid in the determination of the erosion hazard line. Shorelines with a recession rate of 1 foot or more per year over a minimum of 15 years are designated as HREAs. The recession rate data are used to calculate the appropriate setback distances for construction.
Setbacks are determined for the projected recession of the shoreline 30 years and 60 years into the future. The 30 year setback distance (feet) is for those structures considered readily moveable. If the structure was threatened by erosion, it could be moved landward before loss of the structure occurred. The 60 year distance is for non-readily moveable structures such as homes with a foundation greater than 3,500 square feet or a septic system.
Once a recession rate study is complete the property owners, and their local officials, in the proposed high risk erosion areas are notified and given the opportunity to comment on the proposed designations before they become effective.
