by Ember Sullivan
HOUGHTON--Recent increased development along Lake Superior's shoreline has sparked the interest of researchers in Michigan Technological University's School of Forestry and Wood Products (SFWP). A project, sponsored by the Michigan Great Lakes Protection Fund, will examine the economic value of non-shoreline property within close proximity to publicly owned shorelines along Lake Superior.
The project is led by Dr. Blair Orr, associate professor in the SFWP. Orr's hypotheses for the project are based upon case studies indicating that property values increase when property is close to publicly shared land in urban areas.
"If the development of less ecologically sensitive property, that is, non-shoreline property, is enhanced by nearby public ownership of shoreline, then the case for shoreline protection is strengthened, even from a developer's perspective," said Orr.
Orr explained that having both ecological and economic rationales for publicly owned shorelines is important for Lake Superior ecosystems in the future.
"The goal of the project is to determine if publicly owned shorelines will be beneficial economically as well as ecologically," said Orr.
Researchers will collect information on recent transaction prices from both shoreline and near-shoreline properties along Lake Superior. They will compile each property's distance from public shorelines as well as record data on the associated amenities. For instance, a property's value is usually increased when it is closer to a large city (an amenity). Then primary amenities will not be counted towards a property's value, and the impact of proximity to open space alone will be analyzed.
"This study is designed to determine (if property value is raised by publicly owned shorelines) the amount a property's value increases, and to record zoning or ownership changes that preserve shoreline as open space," said Orr.
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