Senate Bill 778 passed the Senate 30-6 Thursday, with no debate, moving one step closer to the conclusion of an issue bouncing around the Legislature for many years.
The legislation, sponsored by Senator Mike Kowall (R-White Lake), would prohibit the blocking of access to the water at a public road end, such as the overnight mooring of a boat. The bill would permit a local unit of government to install a dock. Property rights questions surrounding road-ends of public roads at lakes have resulted in confrontations according to the bill’s sponsor.
Senators Darwin Booher (R-Evart), Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba), Bruce Caswell (R-Hillsdale), Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor), Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) and Coleman Young, Jr. (D-Detroit) voted in opposition of the measure.