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Western UP planners offer resources to county
EAGLE RIVER ’Äî A representative of the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR) recently presented Keweenaw County Zoning/Planning Commissioners with a guidebook to help them in updating the
Janet Avery presents a history of Keweenaw County land use planning at the Oct. 10, 2000, County Board meeting in the courthouse in Eagle River. |
county’Äôs Comprehensive Development Plan. WUPPDR* also has offered its Geographic Information Systems (GIS) computer mapping services to help the commission update the county’Äôs current land use
and zoning maps with more detailed information.
However, Gratiot Lake resident Janet Avery of the Association Working Against Keweenaw Exploitation recently told the
Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners that WUPPDR’Äôs record of advice on land use planning for Keweenaw County’Äîsince 1973’Äîhas not yet resulted in a real comprehensive land use plan.
’ÄúIt is a twisted path,’Äù Avery said. ’ÄúIt really started in the very early seventies when the state said all counties needed zoning and that zoning needed prior
planning to make it truly enforceable. The county board here got to work’Äîgood people who wanted to do the job right’Äîbut right from the
beginning we could already see early signs of ’ÄúWhat’Äôs in it for me’Äîor for my piece of the pie?’Äù
Through a list selected items from the minutes of Keweenaw County
Zoning/Planning Commission and County Board of Commissioners meetings, Avery summarized a history of land use plan proposals’Äîbeginning with
WUPPDR’Äôs 1973 proposal for a plan to guide future zoning and development in Keweenaw County’Äîand the delays and lack of citizen input that prevented a real land use plan from being finalized and adopted.
A 1973 WUPPDR report described a ’ÄúComprehensive Environmental Land Use Plan’Äù for the six-county region ’Äúto protect environmental and
resource-base values while at the same time accommodate the development needed for economic and population growth.’Äù
’ÄúOver the years,’Äù Avery said, ’ÄúWUPPDR has tried on and off to help the county out, but the county has not followed through.’Äù
Kim Stoker, WUPPDR planning director, gave each zoning/planning board member a copy of the Michigan Society of Planning Officials’Äô publication, Workbook for Preparing or Updating a Master
Plan or Growth Management Plan. This guidebook for planning commissioners is an outline of steps to be taken in updating or preparing a community growth management plan. By means of
checklists, worksheets, tables, charts and procedures, the guidebook outlines such topics as establishing needs, the planning process, citizen participation options, resource
inventory, work program, mapping options, methods for achieving consensus, infrastructure planning, adopting the plan and implementing the plan.
Jane Pelto, Keweenaw County zoning administrator, said, ’ÄúThis is what we’Äôve been looking for.’Äù
Zoning/Planning Commission Chairman James Regis thanked Stoker for the
guidebook and said the commission will review it and possibly consult with WUPPDR staff for additional help in updating the plan. Stoker said Lori Hauswirth, WUPPDR associate planner, who has background in land use
planning, could provide resources and technical assistance to help the commission with their plan.
Hauswirth is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Northern Michigan University
with a major in land use planning and management and a minor in conservation.
Originally from Marquette, she has been in Houghton for more than three years. Her family has been in the area since the late 1800s, and her parents are originally from Hancock/Houghton. An avid mountain
biker, skier and ski coach, Hauswirth said she enjoys Keweenaw outdoor activities.
She attended the land use planning forum held in Mohawk on September 22.
’ÄúI thought it was very informative for the public to hear the importance of land use planning,’Äù Hauswirth said. ’ÄúI would agree that
Keweenaw County definitely needs to update their land use plan to guide the future of the county.’Äù
Hauswirth said WUPPDR’Äôs services would have to be requested by the
Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners.
’ÄúWe can provide technical assistance to them in whatever form they request,’Äù she added.
The GIS maps can be used to study such data as census information, population projections, land cover, ownership and zoning, Hauswirth explained.
One type of map can be superimposed on another through the computer to allow for more informed decision-making. A reference book available in the WUPPDR office’ÄîZeroing In: Geographic information systems at work in
the community, by Andy Mitchell, published by the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., gives several examples of how communities and
planners use GIS maps’Äîfrom facilitating 911 locations to spotting water and sewer problems to managing growth to preserve quality of life.
GIS overlays of zoning, soils, slope and wetlands can be used to determine how suitable an area is for different types of development, Hauswirth added.
Since digital information can be linked to tax rolls, GIS maps also allow anyone to query for ownership, based on where a tax bill is sent, Hauswirth
said. That would allow shading all areas that are owned locally. The GIS software makes it possible to update maps from the tax rolls more frequently than a plat book for identifying ownership.
’ÄúYou could query for whatever you wanted,’Äù she added, ’Äúas long as it existed in the tax base.’Äù
Hauswirth said grant money from the Americana Foundation may soon be
available through the citizens’Äô group, Common Ground, for resources’Äîincluding maps in paper format’Äîneeded by local government units.
Stoker said Keweenaw County has paid an annual dues of $4,659 a year (an amount that hasn’Äôt changed since 1978) for membership in WUPPDR,
which serves six Upper Peninsula counties and two member townships: Portage Township and Calumet Township. While the dues do not cover all technical
services, members receive a discount. The county might have to pay for GIS maps, but their membership would make them eligible for a lower price than what WUPPDR would charge a private company or a non-member
government unit.
’ÄúIf they want us to assist them in updating the comprehensive plan,’Äù Stoker said, ’Äúthen we would give them a proposal of costs and scope of services.’Äù
Jim Stingle, WUPPDR executive director, said preparing base maps of land ownership and existing land uses are needed ’Äúso you know what you’Äôre starting
with.’Äù He noted public participation is part of the planning process.
’ÄúYou have to ’Ķ get the vision of what the people want,’Äù Stingle said.
Jane Pelto, Keweenaw County zoning administrator, said she believed WUPPDR would be a good resource for the county. She mentioned the
’ÄúKeweenaw 2000 Economic Adjustment Strategy for Keweenaw County’Äù published by WUPPDR in 1997. It includes surveys of all five townships, with
residents’Äô ideas on the future economic development of Keweenaw County.**
Stingle said that Keweenaw 2000 study could be used as a base, but things
change. He noted a plan should go at least 20 years into the future.
’ÄúIt’Äôs just like any plan that you have. You have to go back and revisit it
every few years,’Äù Stingle said. ’ÄúHow do you want this place to look in 20-25 years? For example, do you want to see resort development along the shorelines? Do you want to see industrial parks (or) tourism?’Äù
Stingle added that residential development includes the cost of services.
’ÄúThere’Äôs some concern with wellhead protection,’Äù he said. ’ÄúIf you were
going to be planning development you would be planning services’Äîpolice, fire protection, street lights as well as water and sewer.’Äù
Said Pelto,
’ÄúWhen the land use part of our plan is finished, we’Äôll have GIS maps through WUPPDR to correlate with the land use part of our Comprehensive Development Plan.’Äù
She noted the maps would give an overview of what the trend should be for future development’Äî’Äúwhich areas should be preserved, which areas developed
and the type of development that should go in a specific area.’Äù
Pelto added the Zoning/Planning Commission can make final decisions on
the comprehensive development plan without the approval of the County Board of Commissioners, but the zoning ordinance and zoning maps need the approval
of the Board of Commissioners and of the Department of Consumer and Industry Services (Michigan Department of Commerce).
’ÄúI think the Zoning/Planning Commission will be willing to hold public hearings to get input on the comprehensive development plan (including the land use plan),’Äù Pelto said.
Avery said in the past only once (in 1992) was an attempt made to involve the public in the planning process for Keweenaw County. As every planner,
including planning experts at the recent Mohawk land use forum pointed out, she noted, people from all backgrounds and interest groups should be included in the planning process.
Click here for Janet Avery’Äôs guest column, which includes her presentation to
the County Board of Commissioners at their October 10 meeting.
*The Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region includes Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties, conforming to the regional boundaries established by former Michigan
Governor Milliken in Executive Orders 1968-1 and 1974-4, which designated these counties as State Planning Region 13.WUPPDR’Äôs purpose is to foster
stable and diversified local economies within the region through
- dissemination of community development and economic development information;
- conducting regional planning studies and maintaining databases to foster the implementation of transportation, solid waste, wastewater, housing,
land use and economic development programs of the state and federal government departments;
- providing community planning assistance on specific projects involving recreation, fire protection, roads, railroads and bridges, sewer and water, housing rehabilitation, solid waste management and the arts;
- seeking out and capturing economic development opportunities which utilize local resources;
- providing computer mapping services (GIS) on a general areawide basis, including but not limited to county base maps, land cover and specialized area maps at request.
** Excerpts from the Keweenaw 2000 study, showing the survey results, are available on the Keweenaw Liberty Library. Click on County Land Use
Planning.
’ÄìMichele Anderson
October 15, 2000
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