Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Keweenaw County’s Master Plan is being updated, with the 50% Draft having been submitted to the County Planning Commission.

EAGLE RIVER — The updated Keweenaw County Master Plan is making progress, according to Patrick Coleman, principal of North of 45 and Master Plan project consultant.

The Master Plan is a guiding document for future development of a community. It addresses future land uses, community development, and other community features, and includes a clearly stated vision supported by goals and objectives.

Coleman said he submitted what he called a 50 Percent Draft, which the County Planning Committee should start to review next Tuesday.

The 50% Draft Master Plan is an intermediate document in the planning process that represents a roughly halfway point between initial data gathering and the final, adopted plan.

Coleman said the draft will probably not be released until 100% of the draft has been completed and reviewed. The first half of the draft, he said, is 50% of the chapters.

“It is very voluminous,” Harvey Desnick, Planning Commission member, adding that it consists of 76 pages.

Desnick said he has read much of it, and said in its current form it is mostly numbers and history.

“The real meat will the rest of it,” he said. “In the first half, there is nothing much more than the survey results.”

The Keweenaw County Master Plan Survey was conducted last fall. Among the survey questions asked residents is if residents are concerned with the recent increases in visitation. It asks respondents where they live, if they are seasonal or year-round residents, number of children, if any, and which school district they attend. It also asks questions such as why the respondent chose the county for residence and length of time of residency. It also asks what are the top four priorities the Master Plan should focus on, whether the county should consider adding industrial zones or expand or improve existing industrial zones to accommodate economic development, and should there be more residential development in Keweenaw County in the coming years.

Coleman said fter the draft’s completion, there will be a period of time for the PC to process, probably about three months.

“There is a two-month review period where it will be published for comment,” he said, “then a 63-day review period, so tentatively mid-July is our projection time.”

After the draft has been reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission, it must then be read, reviewed, and approved by the County Board of Commissioners.