This is part of a summer-long series that looks at the issues and ways of life along Oakland County's lakes. Gary Rotter lives in landlocked Livonia. Rotter and his family are not alone.
Few people are lucky enough to own shoreline.
The others, like the Rotters, depend on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources boat launch sites. That policy aim is belied by recent history. Local governments operate 445 of the sites, while the DNR directly runs 738 ramps, Herek said. But in the last 11 years, only seven sites have been built, according to Herek and DNR parks and recreation planner Paul Yauk. The fall-off in building new sites is due partly to the cost of lakefront property, estimated to rise by 10 percent to 25 percent per year, said Yauk.