A bill authored by State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, that would merge two agencies dealing with development along the Lake Michigan shoreline corridor has cleared a Senate committee.

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources on Monday unanimously approved S.B. 339, which would create a new entity known as the Lake Michigan Marina and Shoreline Development Commission. The new commission would merge the Lake Michigan Marina Development Commission and the Shoreline Development Commission.

The bill is now eligible for consideration by the full Senate.

“Merging these commissions would allow the issues and concerns that come before both groups to be handled at the same time,” Tallian said in a press release. “Developing the lakeshore, while maintaining the area’s environmental stability, is a great concern of mine.”

Tallian said the combination of these two commissions into a single body would potentially reduce the costs and streamline coordination of shared duties.

The marina commission studies various plans for marina development, while the Shoreline Development Commission coordinates the plans of development and redevelopment along the Lake Michgian corridor. However, the shoreline commission has not been appointed for several years.

If approved, the new commission would take effect July 1 of this year.

Posted 1/27/2010