A Master Plan for St. Clair County

These and other land use strategies begin with local action but require a combination of regional cooperation and state leadership. In its plan for a sustainable future, St. Clair County is counting on all three.

Located just north of metropolitan Detroit, St. Clair County is one of Michigan’s largest coastal counties, with a population of 166,000. The county also boasts a lengthy and varied Great Lakes shoreline that stretches from sandy Lake Huron beaches, south along the St. Clair River to the unique delta wetlands of northern Lake St. Clair.

To accommodate a growing population—yet prevent consequences such as urban sprawl, transportation gridlock, loss of unique coastal habitat and deteriorating water quality—land use planners visualized an alternative future and created a Master Plan. The plan provides guidelines and recommendations to achieve balanced communities that allow economic growth yet maintain a high quality of life for county residents.

“We’re striving for a different vision, a different land use pattern that exudes many different values,” says Senior Planner Bill Kauffman.

Protecting natural resources and making the most of public tax dollars are high priorities. A map of St. Clair County projected for the year 2020 shows distinct districts that concentrate development where public services, such as water, sewer and transportation systems, already exist. Bisecting the map is a spider web of green—a network of coastal and river buffer zones, woodlands, parks and open space.

With funds from the MDEQ Coastal Management Program, St. Clair County also created a coastal community land use guide and made this and its Master Plan available online. Local governments are not obligated to follow the Master Plan, says Kauffman, but many are doing so, incorporating ideas about open space corridors and developing zoning ordinances that guide development and protect natural resources. Their actions play a key role in how the plan unfolds.

“Our task is to convince communities that local leaders have a stake in this vision and need to take the appropriate steps to enable it to occur.”