Businesses Added To Sewer Service

Since a six-year building limit was imposed on Mackinac Island last September, only three businesses have applied for and received water and sewer allocations from the City of Mackinac Island. There have been no applications for single-family homes needing the utility services.

The Inn on Mackinac’s new outdoor spa will have no impact on the remaining water and sewage capacity. Lake View Hotel’s new arcade room and the new bicycle shop, Mackinac Island Bike Shop, were allocated a total of 0.359 Residential Equivalent Unit (REU), and Debra and Sandra Orr’s new cafe, Seabiscuit & Grog, were allocated two REUs for apartments on the upper level of the building.

REUs are a measure of water and sewage treatment capacity and represent typical household requirements. For example, a single family home consumes one REU, which also equates to 2.8 hotel rooms or 250 square feet of restaurant service area.

The number of REUs remaining under present treatment capacity limits are 94.511 overall and 12.641 for this year.

Last year, the city determined its sewage treatment capacity was nearing its limit and could process the equivalent of only 285 more homes. All but about 100 of that capacity already had been allocated to new subdivisions.

For the next six years, while the city decides whether it will expand its treatment capacity, only 15 REUs per year will be available for building projects. Three of those will be reserved for single-family homes.