Leland Township unanimously approved a public recreation ordinance to establish rules and regulations for the use and maintenance of township parks, beaches, and road-end docks at its regular meeting on Jan. 13. The rules and regulations will go into effect Feb. 22.
Between the fall of 2022 and April 2024, Clint Mitchell, Leland Township Supervisor, said drafts of the ordinance were reviewed by the township’s parks and recreation committee, zoning administrator, county sheriff, township attorney, board members and interested community members, without any objections and with several added changes made along the way. The final draft was completed in April 2024.
With the adoption of the updated public recreation ordinance, the township’s former park regulation ordinance from 1989, which highlighted rules for parks, beaches, boat launching ramps, and places of recreation, was repealed.
Mitchell said the new ordinance makes clear what can be enforced and some of the vague consistent language found in the former document, as well as updates the hours for use at places like township parks, beaches, and docks on inland lake road-ends.
In section two of the public recreation ordinance, it states that all township parks and beaches be closed from one hour past sunset until sunrise the following day, however, public boat ramps located therein will have no limit on hours of operation. Docks on inland lake road-ends will not be used from midnight to sunrise, although permission to temporarily extend hours of use at township parks may be granted by the township board.
As stated in the ordinance, the township does not regulate ingress or egress of road-ends and shoreline beach walking on Lake Michigan, “nor the traditional public trust rights of hunting, fishing, and navigation.”
“There are a lot of elements of the existing ordinance in there. Times have changed since 1989 as well as our population, how our parks are used, and tourism… It does change the times for park hours and keeps it open late in the summertime, the idea being if it’s dark out, the parks are closed, unless you do have some written approval from the township board,” Mitchell explained. “It ensures public boat ramps stay open and that the docks on the road-ends are consistent with state statute that relates to mooring and docking of public docks.”
Another added regulation in section two, which was recommended by the sheriff, highlights the restriction of glass containers of any kind permitted on township beaches. In addition, it is noted that no public area protected under the ordinance will be reserved for commercial activity or the use for the sale of commercial goods unless authorized by the township board.
“The idea is if you want to get wedding photos at Vans Beach and you have a professional photographer, you can absolutely do that, but you can’t reserve an area of the beach and rope it off,” Mitchell said. “If you’re actually selling things (like a foodtruck) at a park, that’s prohibited. So you can use it for commercial activity, just not reserve it, but you can’t sell anything there at all without the approval of the board.”
Under section three of the ordinance focused on penalties, jail time was removed, with only citations now listed as violations. It states that those who violate any provisions of the ordinance are subject to payment of a civil fine not less than $50 or more than $500, plus costs and other sanctions for each infraction. Repeat offenses are also subject to an increased civil fine.
To read the ordinance in its entirety, people can pick up copies at the township office or call the office at 231-256-7546.
