The Lakes to Land Regional Initiative is a unique joint planning
effort among the northwestern Michigan townships of Arcadia, Blaine,
Crystal Lake, Gilmore, Bear Lake, Joyfield, Lake, Manistee, Onekama,
Pleasanton, and Springdale, the Villages of Honor, Bear Lake, and
Elberta, and the City of Frankfort. It seeks to bring voices from
throughout the region into an articulation of a vision for the region’s
future.
This process will result in a series of master plans which include a detailed assessment of the community, coming to consensus on a shared vision, and translating this vision into policy and action statements.
This process will result in a series of master plans which include a detailed assessment of the community, coming to consensus on a shared vision, and translating this vision into policy and action statements.
The communities will then collaborate on a clear set of strategies
for achieving that vision, erasing municipal boundaries to view the
region as a whole. Such opportunities for collaboration might include:
- Facilitating partnership and consistency
- Identifying and sharing resources
- Capitalizing on existing assets and opportunities to achieve economies of scale
- Protecting geographic features that cross municipal boundaries
- Providing a documented, justified basis for funding requests
- Understanding how sustainability plays a role in maintaining a high quality of life for current and future generations.
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WHAT IS A MASTER PLAN?
Preparing a master plan is one of the first activities in exerting effort to directly influence how future growth and development is to occur in your community for the next 15 to 20 years. You leave nothing to luck, you exert the effort to shape how your community develops in the future and you do this by preparing a master plan. A master plan is a guide that answers the question “how do we want our community to grow over time so it becomes the kind of place we envision?” Once completed, a master plan provides the foundation on which all land use decisions are made by citizens, public officials and developers.
Various tools will be developed to implement the master plan such as zoning ordinances.
Remember, how we use our land often dictates what our community grows towards. Without a master plan, the growth of a community is left to special interests, transitory public officials or narrow focused public participants. Done correctly, a master plan is written by consensus by all residents who participate in the process and reflects a mutually agreed upon foundation.
The process is simple. First, a detailed assessment of the community is completed that provides information about the demographics, existing land uses, community assets such as natural resources, views, heritage, existing economic development, roads and other motorized and nonmotorized transportation assets. Once completed you will have quantified all the amazing attributes of your community and also identified a lack of or need for assets. At this point you may exclaim “I see a real problem here, we need to fix...” or you may say “I see a real opportunity to build upon this asset by....”. You will present your thoughts at a visioning session. The visioning session is your opportunity to see how your thoughts are in common with your neighbors. Collectively, you will turn those thoughts into a vision, a vision that either succinctly articulates problems and concerns or defines a desired future. A vision is very broad in nature and should have a long term focus. For example, your community may desire to preserve your agricultural heritage and way of life or you may desire to grow into the premier cultural and economic center for the region. Once you have a clearly articulated and agreed upon vision a series of goals are developed to help you achieve the vision. Goals usually fall within broad categories such as economic development, environment, transportation, cultural or public services. There are many other topics that you may choose, as a community, as your goals. It's up to you to define. The goals contain subsequent and more specific policy or action statements that provide the specific steps to achieve the goals. Planning Commissions, Township Boards, community organizations or active community volunteers will work hard at implementing the policy or action statements. Once the goals are achieved, your community has achieved the vision of your community. At some point, some 15 to 20 years in the future, you will look around your community very proud of what you have accomplished. It will have not been luck or outside influences that shaped your community into the wonderful place it has become, but rather the direct result of all your effort and hard work. Future generations will not only build upon what you have achieved but also reap the rewards of your efforts and thank you.
Various tools will be developed to implement the master plan such as zoning ordinances.
Remember, how we use our land often dictates what our community grows towards. Without a master plan, the growth of a community is left to special interests, transitory public officials or narrow focused public participants. Done correctly, a master plan is written by consensus by all residents who participate in the process and reflects a mutually agreed upon foundation.
The process is simple. First, a detailed assessment of the community is completed that provides information about the demographics, existing land uses, community assets such as natural resources, views, heritage, existing economic development, roads and other motorized and nonmotorized transportation assets. Once completed you will have quantified all the amazing attributes of your community and also identified a lack of or need for assets. At this point you may exclaim “I see a real problem here, we need to fix...” or you may say “I see a real opportunity to build upon this asset by....”. You will present your thoughts at a visioning session. The visioning session is your opportunity to see how your thoughts are in common with your neighbors. Collectively, you will turn those thoughts into a vision, a vision that either succinctly articulates problems and concerns or defines a desired future. A vision is very broad in nature and should have a long term focus. For example, your community may desire to preserve your agricultural heritage and way of life or you may desire to grow into the premier cultural and economic center for the region. Once you have a clearly articulated and agreed upon vision a series of goals are developed to help you achieve the vision. Goals usually fall within broad categories such as economic development, environment, transportation, cultural or public services. There are many other topics that you may choose, as a community, as your goals. It's up to you to define. The goals contain subsequent and more specific policy or action statements that provide the specific steps to achieve the goals. Planning Commissions, Township Boards, community organizations or active community volunteers will work hard at implementing the policy or action statements. Once the goals are achieved, your community has achieved the vision of your community. At some point, some 15 to 20 years in the future, you will look around your community very proud of what you have accomplished. It will have not been luck or outside influences that shaped your community into the wonderful place it has become, but rather the direct result of all your effort and hard work. Future generations will not only build upon what you have achieved but also reap the rewards of your efforts and thank you.
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