Bloom Sluggett

On July 1, 2020, Governor Whitmer signed the following bills into law with immediate effect.  Read More

Bloom Sluggett is pleased to announce that Dave Eberle has earned the Master Citizen Planner credential through the Michigan State University Extension Program. The Master Citizen Planner credential is an achievement recognized as the standard of excellence among planning officials and community leaders throughout Michigan.  Read More

Over the years, the Michigan courts have struggled with which parties can bring a lawsuit or appeal in a county circuit court to challenge a zoning decision by a Michigan city, village or township. The concept is often referred to as “standing,” and centers on which party or parties (typically, a neighbor) has sufficient interest in a controversy to be able to bring a lawsuit or to appeal a zoning approval decision via a circuit court in Michigan. The standing issue arises in a variety of different zoning contexts, including challenging municipal zoning decisions such as rezonings, variances, special land use approvals, site plan approvals, and other zoning approvals.   Read More

Governor Whitmer has issued multiple executive orders the past couple of weeks regarding Michigan Stay Home – Stay Safe and MI Safe Start: A Plan to Re-engage Michigan’s Economy.    Read More

Governor Whitmer has issued multiple executive orders the past couple of weeks regarding Michigan Stay Home – Stay Safe and MI Safe Start: A Plan to Re-engage Michigan’s Economy. While the general restrictions imposed under previous versions of Stay Home – Stay Safe remain in place until June 12, 2020, in accordance with Executive Order 2020-100, some restrictions, both regional and statewide, have recently been relaxed:   Read More

As everyone knows, during the past year or two, both the Great Lakes and many inland lakes in Michigan have been at historically high lake levels. High water, combined with waves from storms and certain boating activities (particularly, from wake boats), have severely damaged and eroded shorelines throughout Michigan. Such conditions have also flooded front yards, harmed docks and seawalls, and flooded basements. Improper boating practices only exacerbate the problem.  Read More

On May 6, 2020 at 7:25pm, Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-75. In general, EO 2020-75 repeals and replaces Executive Order 2020-48 and permits public bodies to continue to meet electronically until June 30, 2020.    Read More

On April 24, 2020 at 11:00 am, Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-59 (the “EO”). Unless otherwise specified, the EO is effective immediately and continues until May 15, 2020 at 11:59 pm. Broadly, the EO extends the duration of the stay-at-home order previously issued under Executive Order 2020-42, but with some amendments. Some of those amendments included the following:   Read More

UPDATE: On April 20, 2020 at 10:00am, the Michigan Secretary of State Bureau of Elections issued the following update regarding the April 21, 2020 filing deadline:  A federal court issued an order on April 20, 2020 that changes the April 21 filing deadline and rules for some candidates.  Read More

As of this posting, the statutory requirements regarding nomination petitions under the Michigan Election Law Act, PA 116 of 1954 (MCL 168.1 et seq.) remain in effect. This includes petition signature requirements and the April 21, 2020 filing deadline. The Michigan Secretary of State has acknowledged concerns and inquiries related to the filing deadline due to COVID-19 and the stay at home restrictions mandated by Michigan Executive Order 2020-42. The Secretary has requested a three-week extension of the April 21 filing deadline. However, there has been no extension, and the filing deadline currently remains in place.  Read More