Master Plan Committee To Be Set Soon

By Ryan Schlehuber

Residents will decide future development on Mackinac Island with a revision of the city’s master plan this summer. To that end, a professional consultant has been hired to help the city reflect on the Island’s needs and desires.

A master plan is a citizen vision for it wants the community to be in future years, and it is a legal defense for the city’s zoning laws, when those laws conform to the vision.

The Mackinac Island Planning Commission began discussion, though brief, on the revision of the master plan at its regular meeting Tuesday, April 12. Planning Commission Chairman Bob Brown said a committee has yet to be named, however, the city plans to include three city officials, three members of the Planning Commission (Mary Dufina, Chairman Bob Brown, and Kay Hoppenrath), three citizens, and other city staff, including Mayor Margaret Doud, her assistant, Kelly Bean, City Engineer and Building Inspector Dennis Dombroski, the city attorney, Tom Evashevski, and Department of Public Works Director Bruce Zimmerman. Also mentioned as a possible contributor is Mackinac State Historic Parks Director Phil Porter and cottager Lorna Straus.

The city has hired Connie Dimond of JJR, a consulting firm in Ann Arbor, to lead the city through the process of revising part of the master plan for $50,000.

Ms. Dimond assisted the city’s building moratorium committee last summer to help it construct a six-year plan to upgrade the city’s sewer and water treatment facilities. Her contribution was impressive enough for the city to hire her to help revise the master plan, said Mayor Margaret Doud.

Tentatively, by June 1, Ms. Dimond is to receive background information about the community’s needs and desires for future development and use of Island resources. Ms. Dimond then plans to meet with the master plan committee and begin dissecting the document, which was adopted in 2000.

The first committee meeting is scheduled for June 1, then a June 14 Planning Commission meeting will be held to discuss the issue further. A public hearing on the issue is scheduled for August 15.

State law requires municipalities to review and, if necessary, revise a master plans every five years. Wade-Trim of Gaylord assisted the city in creating the Island’s Master Plan five years ago, but the document was more reflective of the city’s existing zoning laws than it was of future development, and, as a result, has left the city with little direction on issues such as harbor development, high density housing, utility services, and the use of motorized vehicles and even electric bicycles.

Ms. Dimond’s proposal calls for a four-phase plan that can be completed in six to 12 months. The Island’s goals and policies and future land use chapters, chapters six and seven, respectively, of the master plan, is emphasized as the most problematic areas in Ms. Dimond’s proposal.

Phase One includes studies of land and infrastructure capacity and trend studies of building development and population.

Phase Two includes preparation of three alternative ideas for future and use development –– trend-based, zoning-based, and capacity-based future development.

Phase Three includes two community workshops. The first workshop will introduce and hold discussions on the results of the capacity studies, trends, and alternative futures. The idea is to find a preferred future land use plan and draft goals and policies from public input received at the workshops.

Phase Four is the master plan amendments. According to Ms. Dimond’s proposal, she will meet with the committee to review Phase Three input and to confirm the proposed master plan amendments. She will also assist in revising the master plan’s goals and policies and then draft a future land use map.

Phase Four could take up to three months to complete.

Revising the rest of the master plan or rewriting the zoning ordinance to fit the future vision of the master plan are not currently scheduled, nor are they part of Ms. Diamond’s contract.