Photo courtesy of Visit Keweenaw

EAGLE RIVER – The Keweenaw County Master Plan is in the process of being updated. Part of that project included a Master Plan Community Survey, which started in August and ended in September. The survey results were recently posted on Keweenaw County’s website.

As part of the community outreach and engagement process, Patrick Coleman, principal of North of 45, and Master Plan project consultant, along with several Planning Commissioners, met with several groups and stakeholders in order to better understand issues and opportunities facing the County.

From August 21 to September 16, five community engagement open house workshops were held, one in each of the county’s townships. A total of 93 persons attended these events which encompassed more than 10 hours of contact with Keweenaw County citizens.

Coleman said the County Planning Commission is happy with the attendance at the workshops, the subsequent survey and the number of responses, as well as the amount of public interest. “We had about 100 people attend the five workshops,” Coleman said. “Some of them were very well-attended, which kind of surprised us.”

A community engagement summary and vision statement dated Oct. 27, says topics to discuss over include community survey results, input from community engagement workshops and vision statement. Coleman said the next step is to synthesize the information gathered in the survey and to study the comments included by the respondents. “We’ll be drafting the plan over the next months,” Coleman said, “then that will be reviewed by the Planning Commission in sections.”

“The Planning Commission will present it to the public, and there will be 63 days for comment and then a public hearing will be held, probably next May.”

The public survey is an important element in preparing the new Master Plan. Robert Pokorski, Planning Commission Master Plan lead, said in August. Public participation is crucial to creating a new plan. The Master Plan, he said, addresses future land uses, community development, and other community features, and includes a clearly stated vision supported by goals and objectives. It also includes an an implementation plan with specific action items that will work toward that vision.”The biggest part of the Master Plan is to plan land use for the future of the county,” he said. “Not only is it land use, but it’s planning in general, though land use is a big part of it so, as much community input as we can get from the residents is desirable.”