Suttons Bay Officials Discuss Wetland Protection Ordinance

The village of Suttons Bay is exploring a potential ordinance designed to protect ecologically valuable wetland resources within village limits.

The village planning commission is reviewing a draft wetlands protection ordinance that would help guide decisions regarding these sensitive natural areas within the village. But village officials hope to avoid being too onerous with their regulations as they work to protect these resources, a task arguably as delicate as the wetlands themselves.

“Wetland ordinances are notoriously difficult,” Village Manager Rob Larrea tells The Ticker. “You already have state oversight, which many feel is too easy to circumvent, and you can have local ordinances, but sometimes they feel a bit too overreaching. So we really want to make sure we find that balance.”

The issue came to a head in recent years with filling and/or alteration of certain wetlands in village limits, Larrea says, which has some residents convinced state regulations aren’t enough.

“We’ve had a bit of filling here in the last couple years, and in those instances the state felt it was perfectly fine, but the residents didn't feel that way,” he says. “We’re seeing some negative results.”

Those negative results include flooding around altered wetland areas, Larrea says.

“It’s possible there’s a correlation between the filling of those wetlands and the overflows that we’re seeing from them,” he says. “We had (two massive) storms in less than two years, and in both instances, areas that are wetlands that gather that water and filter it, they just released. They were overwhelmed.”

Wetlands are “indispensable and fragile resources that provide many public benefits, including maintenance of water quality through nutrient cycling and sediment trapping as well as flood and storm water runoff control through temporary water storage, slow release, and groundwater recharge,” the 24-page draft ordinance reads.

“In addition, wetlands provide open space; passive outdoor recreation opportunities; fish and wildlife habitat for many forms of wildlife, including migratory waterfowl, and rare, threatened, or endangered wildlife and plants,” the draft ordinance continues. “Preservation of the remaining wetlands is necessary to maintain hydrological, economic, recreational, and aesthetic natural resource values for existing and future residents of Suttons Bay.”

The draft ordinance declares “a policy of no net loss of wetlands. Furthermore, the Village Council declares a long-term goal of net gain of wetlands to be accomplished through review of degraded or destroyed wetlands in the Village of Suttons Bay, and through cooperative work with landowners, using incentives and voluntary agreements to restore wetlands.”

Among other items, the draft ordinance regulates modification to wetlands and outlines penalties for doing so.

It is not clear if the village will eventually adopt the ordinance or take other measures, Larrea said. The planning commission on Wednesday met and further discussed the ordinance and its language.

“They know that they want to protect these wetlands areas, but they’re not sure what the best approach is at this time,” he says. “We’re talking about possibly inventorying wetlands and seeing the size of them, as well as the overall need for an ordinance or whether we can work more closely with the state.”

More discussion is expected in the coming months before the village settles on a course of action. The village council has the final say on any ordinances approved by the planning commission.

"Sometimes it takes reading an ordinance of that caliber to make one realize that there may be less burdensome options out there that can accomplish the same intent," Larrea says.