County OKs final land plan
County OKs final land plan
Development took four years
By JANE NORDBERG, DMG Writer
HOUGHTON — After four years and hundreds of volunteer hours, Houghton County officials have a guideline for land use.
Guy St. Germain, chair of the county’s planning commission, received unanimous approval for the final county land use plan by the board of commissioners at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday.
Commission members Truman Obermeyer, Susan Burack and Jack Dueweke were also in attendance.
“We’re here to recommend the final plan to the board,” St. Germain said, acknowledging several planning commission members and others who helped in the document’s development.
A draft of the plan was presented to commissioners in January. Since then, an effort has been made to solicit public comments and suggestions.
The draft document was placed on the Houghton County Web site and hard copies were sent to each township. The plan was also presented to the township supervisors’ association.
Three subsequent public meetings garnered a number of “interesting comments,” he said.
“Those meetings helped us to clear up and clarify the details,” he said, adding that the plan hoped to address two main concerns the public had about land use.
The first concern was zoning, particularly at the township level, he said.
“There’s a lot of fear about it and how it will affect these smaller sub units of the county,” St. Germain said. “It’s our hope as a planning commission to act as a resource to townships and other municipal units so they can move forward.”
The second most prevalent concern was county trail use, he said, such as public ownership of the trail, value of the trails, and trail easements for snowmobile trails.
Public meetings were held in Alston on Feb. 23, Chassell Township on March 16 and in Lake Linden on March 23. Data from land use forums and attitude surveys conducted in 1994 and 1997 also contributed to the plan.
The document provides an overview of the county’s population, demographics and its geography and topographical features.
Present land use and development, including housing, schools, employment and industry are also broken down, as well as transportation and commuting patterns. A section of planning in harmony in winter is also included.
The plan also lists planning trends and critical development issues facing Houghton County, such as waterfront development, fragmentation of large land holdings and commercial strip development.
A section entitled “Living the Plan” also lists the advantages and disadvantages of county-wide planning and zoning versus planning and zoning by individual townships and villages.
Finally, the plan is supplemented by color maps detailing future land use for the county’s 14 townships.
St. Germain publicly acknowledged the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region for providing statistical information, and said former Houghton County Commissioner Jim Boyce and current Commissioner Paul Luoma also were instrumental in the plan’s formation.
“Commissioner Luoma was a crucial member of our committee as he helped to set up public meetings and he also has an extensive knowledge of the county,” St. Germain said.
He also acknowledged Pat Coleman of U.P. Engineers & Architects Inc., whose firm provided map work and printing services, and the donation by Bill Fink Communications LLC which provided editing and document assembly.
“There were many, many people who volunteered their time to provide this resource for the people of the county,” St. Germain told the board. “We think it’s a good document and I thank you for supporting it.”
The county planning commission was re-established in 2001 with the purpose of drafting the general land use and county development plan, in accordance with the Michigan County Planning Act, MCL 125.101.
It is intended to be the first in a series of planning documents for the county, and will be updated by ongoing review and evaluation.
Jane Nordberg can be reached at jnordberg@mininggazette.com
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