The Sustainable North-Central Muskegon County Charrette will focus on the area surrounding the Michigan Adventure Amusement Park between Whitehall Road and US-31. Current conditions include roadway networks that do not support expected traffic volumes; five separate township-owned sewer systems that result in extreme variations in development costs among communities; aging industrial and commercial uses that conflict with expected development; existing community master plans that do not collaboratively address expected trends; existing stream corridors that are negatively impacted by past and current land use; and a lack of planning for stormwater infrastructure.  ”The charrette will allow stakeholder groups to collaborate, thereby eliminating the duplication of efforts and services; it will provide an expanded vision of how community resources can be used collectively, resulting in a sustainable region“, explains Roland Crummel, Chairman of the Laketon Township/North-Central Joint Planning Commission.  ”The charrette will also demonstrate the impacts that expected growth trends will have on social, economic, and environmental values of the community and help leaders to use a collaborative approach to address issues before they become problems“.

First Name

Roland

Last Name

Crummel

Professional Title

Supervisor/Chairman

Municipality

Laketon Township/North Central Joint Planning Commission

Address

W. Giles Road

City

Muskegon

County

Muskegon

State

Michigan

Zip Code

49445

Phone

(231) 744-2454

Email

rcrummel@laketon.org

Charrette Title

Designing Sustainable North-Central Muskegon County

Geographic Area

The urbanizing areas within the NCJPC directly surrounding Michigan Adventure Amusement Park (MA), northerly from M-120 corridor to White Lake Drive between the Whitehall Road corridor and US-31, including the Russell/Riley Thompson entrance corridor to MA from US-31 all contained within portions of the Muskegon Lake, Bear Lake and Duck Lake watersheds.

Summary

The geographical area is primarily rural with diverse and sometimes conflicting uses in varied stages of development. Water system is regional and serves most of the focus area. Sewer systems are township-owned, also serving most of the focus area.

Michigan’s Adventure

Recent acquisition by Cedar Fair,§ LLC

Existing and Proposed Industrial Activities:

Cordova Industrial Park/EPA Superfund Site; City of Muskegon Renaissance Zone & EDA grant

Bayer Crop Science; underutilized global, Agri-Science R&D facility

Zephyr Oil; undeveloped Michigan 201 brownfield site

Development Corridors

Whitehall Road Corridor - urbanizing, rural, commercial§ corridor

M-120 Corridor – transitioning mixed use commercial§ corridor

Reeths Puffer Neighborhood Association

Aging§ Residential Communities

Inaccessible available land§

Abundant Natural Resources

Large, undeveloped forest areas§

Bear Creek and Duck Creek§ watersheds

Underutilized Infrastructure:

Active Rail Access§

Abandoned Railroad Right of Way

Northside regional water§ system

Community Issues

The recent purchase of MA by Cedar Fairs, LLC has spurred major water/sewer expansions to facilitate and support expected related growth.

Existing roadway networks do not adequately support expected traffic volumes and do not facilitate non-motorized transportation.

Three separate, township-owned sewer systems result in extreme variations in development costs among communities.

Existing industrial and aging commercial uses will conflict with expected developmental pressures.

Existing community master plans do not collaboratively address expected trends.

Existing stream corridors are negatively impacted by past and current land use.

There is no current storm water infrastructure or master plan for the focus area.

Public perception of expected growth indicates concern with community values (social, economic and environmental).

Interface

The team will expand NCJPC efforts to include economic, social and environmental concerns by interfacing with community civic leadership, including these organizations:

West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission, One§ Muskegon, West Michigan Strategic Alliance

Muskegon Area First, Muskegon§ and White Lake Chambers of Commerce, Community Foundation for Muskegon County

Muskegon River, natural resources and sub-watershed groups and Grand§ Valley State University Annis Water Resources Institute

The NCJPC§ governmental units with Muskegon County, Cities of Muskegon, North Muskegon, Whitehall and Montague.

Regional governmental organizations, including§ Muskegon County Regional Water Policy Board, Muskegon County Wastewater Management Committee, Muskegon County Municipal Stormwater Management Committee; Fred Meijer/Berry Junction Rail Trail Commission.

Educational§ institutions, including Grand Valley State University, White Lake Community Education and Reeths Puffer Schools

Muskegon Chronicle and White Lake§ Beacon

Current efforts lack a collaborative approach to common concerns.

Community Benefit

The charrette will expose the NCJPC to the community’s civic leadership for a cooperative approach to address regional concerns, such as MA and related growth. It will allow key members of the above organizations to collaborate, thereby eliminating the duplication of efforts and services. It will provide an expanded vision of how community resources can be used collectively, resulting in a sustainable region. The Muskegon Area-wide Plan (MAP) vision areas of: land use and growth; natural resources; economy and jobs; infrastructure and quality of life will be integrated into the diverse missions of multiple community organizations and initiatives.

Relate to Principles

The AIA principles are inherent the goals of the MAP. They are the core reasons that the NCPC communities became a joint planning commission. For example, varied transportation options will ease traffic congestion and address residential quality of life issues. Identifying green infrastructure will protect environmental resources and preserve urban centers. The NCPC embraces the concept that design excellence is the foundation of successful and healthy communities. The NCPC charette team will include community members with diverse backgrounds and knowledge to collaboratively assist architects with the design process. The charette’s collaborative approach will empower the NCPC communities to protect and enhance the environment, meet social needs and promote economic success.

Sustainability

The charrette will expose NCJPC team members to the concept of sustainability.

It will further introduce them to the impacts that expected growth trends will have on the social, economic and environmental values of the community. It will help the community to use a collaborative approach to address issues before they become problems. The charrette results will demonstrate that the quality of life for residents, future residents and visitors in west Michigan depends on maintaining and enhancing a sense of place. It will help illustrate that the community values diversity, good jobs, open space and vibrant urban centers in the region. The charette team will include participants with diverse backgrounds, skill sets and community interests. An effort will be made to engage the greater public, as appropriate, to ensure that the charrette team’s input and involvement addresses the full array of social, economic and environmental concerns present within the area.

Juristictions

The urbanizing areas within the NCJPC directly surrounding Michigan Muskegon, Dalton, Laketon, Fruitland and Blue Lake Townships, all being members of the North Central Joint Planning Commission (NCJPC).

Map

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