A New County Land Use Plan for Lenawee

In a move supported by various county groups and agencies, the Lenawee County Board of Commissioners has approved a work plan to generate a new County Land Use Plan. Under the work plan, Region 2 Planning Commission staff will work with the County Planning Commission over a two year period to develop the new plan.

Information gathered over the first 14 months will include a quality of life survey of county residents, a land use profile taken from aerial photographs and background information from various sources. Issue identification and analysis will be ongoing throughout the process. Activities in the final months of the work plan include goal and policy setting, land use map development, document preparation and public hearings. The Planning Commission expects to involve local government and community organizations in the development of the plan.

In addition to adoption by the County Planning Commission, it is hoped that the final plan will be endorsed by the Board of Commissioners and local units of government. The new plan will replace the previous federally funded plan dating from 1974.

The new plan is intended to offer a county perspective to aid local government planning and decision making. There are, however, three townships in the county that do not presently have planning or zoning. While this may have worked in the past, the result will likely be increasing conflict between incompatible uses as development reaches into these once overlooked areas. While planning and zoning may be seen as a threat to private property rights, the rights of the community whole also deserve representation.

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