LINKS TO MAPS ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE!
(Traverse City, Michigan) - Close to 400 people participated last week at individual Antrim, Wexford and Benzie county workshops conducted as part of the expanded scope of The Grand Vision. Over 350 people had attended workshops in Kalkaska and Leelanau counties conducted earlier in May.
"The turnout was impressive," said Peter Garwood, Antrim County Coordinator/ Planner. "There was a lot of commonality about protecting natural resources and agricultural lands, creating living wage jobs and making sure that each village has some type of a business center. I think we also saw the influence of gas prices going up. There seemed to be more emphasis on public transportation and a concern that each community can provide jobs close to home."
At each of the county workshops, residents indicated on maps how they would handle the inevitable growth in their county over the next 50 years. Currently, 35.8% aggregate growth in the counties is forecast from 2005 - 2030. During that same time span, Grand Traverse County is expected to grow 41% while the State of Michigan overall will grow 13%.
According to The Grand Vision team, 50 maps were created by participants at the Antrim, Wexford and Benzie county workshops. These will be scanned, digitized and posted on The Grand Vision website (www.thegrandvision.org) by June 25.
The website also offers an online "values survey," a forum, pictures of participants, completed maps from previous workshops, and much more information about the unique, wide-open, citizen-based regional planning project.
The newly expanded six-county area for The Grand Vision land use and transportation study encompasses 109 governmental units. "Having local governments integrate The Grand Vision recommendations through their Zoning and Master Planning decisions will certainly create opportunities for additional funding from federal and state agencies for the purposes of implementation," said Matt McCauley, Associate Director of Regional Planning for the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments.
Findings from the county-specific workshops will be combined with results from earlier sessions conducted in Grand Traverse County, in-depth research by the Grand Vision consulting team, and surveys to create unique, computerized "scenario planning" graphics. All citizens of the six-county region will be able to view those scenarios online and in print, and then choose their favorites during "The Grand Vision Decision" process that will occur in October.
One Comment
What happened to the Benzie County maps from the County Workshop?