The City of Muskegon is moving forward with a new housing development that would theoretically lie between Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan. However, a number of local residents in the city’s Bluffton neighborhood are urging city officials to reconsider. In part three of this three-part series, I speak with Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson:
“The Docks. Is it a done deal, is there any stopping this thing, or is it a foregone conclusion at this point?" I ask.
“At the city level, at the local government level, it has been approved, the PUD has been approved, and there probably isn’t any backtracking on that,” Peterson said.
That is part of a conversation I had with Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson, about “The Docks,” a new upscale housing development that will be built on what is left of the Pigeon Hill sand dune. The dune is technically owned by Sand Products Corporation; however, the company has allowed residents of the adjacent Bluffton neighborhood to use it as a public park for years. That will soon come to an end, as the company wants to construct 240 luxurious homes on the dune and add a new channel between Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan. And many Bluffton residents, undoubtedly are upset. I asked Peterson, (who is a Bluffton resident) if he’s sad to see it go.
“I think the question would have been answered differently if it hadn’t been mined, decades and decades ago,” Peterson said. “I look at it as, its different now, it is not the same type of dune that you see in the state park that has been preserved in its natural beauty.”
Meanwhile, Bluffton residents say “The Docks” create dangerous road conditions near Pere Marquette Beach, congest the area, and in the city’s rush to approve its development, did not conduct a proper traffic study.
“I think they’re wrong,” Peterson said. “I think they wanted us to acknowledge that there was so much beach traffic that it didn’t make sense to develop this land. You know from our standpoint it makes a lot more sense to build the neighborhoods the way that we want them, and go the traffic problem, which is the beach, and see how we can mitigate that traffic.”
Still, there is no denying that “The Docks” will permanently alter the character and way of life for residents in Bluffton, one of Muskegon’s oldest and most historic neighborhoods.
Mark Poletti is a Bluffton resident and started the “Save Bluffton” campaign. I stand with him in the Pigeon Hill Sand Dune as we look at Muskegon Lake and he offers his thoughts on the matter.
“What I am afraid of is, where is next,” Poletti said. “Are we going to go to Harbor Town and say ‘you know those spaces in between those houses are pretty big maybe we can build some houses there.’ Or maybe our beautiful boardwalk on Beach Street--maybe that would be a great site to get more tax money from. Heck, there is money to be made. But where's next? That is my biggest fear.”
While the City approved “The Docks” developmental plans at a meeting in June, residents of Bluffton have not lost all hope, as the Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy have yet to sign off on the project.
