Public Road End Controversy

The battle between lakefront property owners and backlot owners over the right to maintain docks at public road ends continues on unabated. While numerous court rulings over the years have established the principle that publicly dedicated streets terminating at the edge of navigable waters are generally deemed to provide public access to the water, those public access rights are limited in their scope.

Permissible uses of public road ends by menbers of the public include the rights to use the surface of the water in a reasonable manner for such activities as boating, fishing and swimming. Also incidents of the public's right of navigation are the ability to construct a public boat launch and to anchor boats temporarily in the water adjacent to a public road end. However, the courts have generally held that the right of public access does not include the ability to install private docks or boat hoists for the overnight mooring of boats, or the right to use public road ends for lounging, sunbathing or picnicking.

Although the bulk of the controversy surrounds the use of public road ends on Houghton and Higgins lakes, there is currently a public road end case pending in Charlevoix County involving a Walloon Lake road end.

If you are looking at buying a backlot property which supposedly has "water access", make sure you consult a real estate attorney prior to any purchase to determine exactly what rights, if any, inure to the benefit of the owner of the backlot.


Illegal Docks Spark Lake Access Fight [Detroit News]