RSS Feed
|
|
|||||
|
Master Plan Committee Focuses On Attracting Younger Population Mackinac Island's younger population and how to make the Island a more attractive place for young people to live dominated discussion at a meeting of the Master Plan Committee Thursday, July 6. Comparing census data from 1990 and 2000, the younger population has decreased, while the total population has increased. Mackinac Island had 469 people in 1990, with 160 up to age 24 and 56 people over the age of 60. It had 523 people in 2000, 128 up to age 24 and 90 people over the age of 60. "Day care is a serious problem on this Island," said resident Barb Fisher. Several members of the committee noted that the 2000 census is more than six years old, and during that time, there was a small baby boom on the Island, which the census does not account for. Lack of available and affordable housing was cited as the main reason the committee thinks the younger population is not staying on the Island or coming to live here. Transportation and the cost of it is another reason. Michelle Walk, county extension director for the Michigan State University Extension in St. Ignace, who specializes in community and economic development, said affordable housing is the main thing that can keep young people coming back to the Island and attract new young people to make it their home. Lori Pieri, the executive director for Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) of Mackinac County, said affordable rentals and low-cost homes are greatly needed in the area. Affordable housing is available for people whose income is under $28,650 a year. At this income level, she said, such housing fills the gap for working families. "If you've got a family and low wages, finding a home is real difficult," Ms. Walk said. She also suggested the Cool Cities Initiative, which is being applied in Sault Ste. Marie. Many Cool Cities programs, however, she noted, are targeted to larger cities that do not have such a large sense of preservation as Mackinac, and one of the original definitions of a Cool City was that it has services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which would be hard to establish in a small town like Mackinac Island. "We can create an environment that offsets the lower pay," Chairman Mike Hart said of the Island's lack of sustainable employment. One suggestion was to make the Island more attractive to businesses, such as Internetbased businesses that could provide more year-around jobs here. "Affordable housing is a good start" at attracting new business, Mrs. Fisher said. Mary Dufina agreed, adding that there are many services needed 24 hours a day, yeararound, which the Island does not have, such as a full time electrician or plumber, possibly because there is no housing available for such people. Another issue discussed was that of development. "What the community wants," said Lorna Straus, "is a stable community." "You need a certain amount of development, because everything needs to grow and change," Mrs. Fisher said. "There are a lot of options out there, we just aren't always aware of what they are," Mrs. Dufina said. Mr. Hart suggested that the City establish some sort of clearinghouse of knowledge for alternative development models. One place suggested to store the information and make it accessible to the public was the Mackinac Island Public Library, another was Community Hall. Dan Wightman said people moving to the Island for its serenity often later demand changes, like motorized transportation, that make it more like the communities on the mainland that they left. "What slays me is what brought everybody here," he said. "You wanted to come here because of what it was, and now that you're here, you want to change it." This is the point of the master plan, Mrs. Dufina emphasized. "You have to be proactive. You have to be thinking ahead about those things." Mr. Hart asserted the Island's position about motorized transportation: "No machinery except if deadly necessary. That's who we are and that's where we intend to stay." In other business at the meeting, Mrs. Straus suggested that the city notify property owners within 300 yards when a neighbor obtains a building permit. Currently, neighbors are only notified of a zoning variance request. Zoning administrator Dennis Dombroski said there is no reason to do so, since the application is public record. He said notification would be expensive and he knows of no municipality
that does notification of that kind. |
for larger version       |
||||
