WLHS: Planning for Something Better

Building trust and confidence

The Brief

• 478 people voted YES to repeal the zoning. No one has contacted them about what they want. Yet the Planning Commission says they can quickly fix the zoning problems by March. Can we fix the communication process first? Through town halls?

• City Council is holding a ‘special meeting’ on Monday, December 2nd at 7 PM. Please attend by Zoom or in person.

• The Planning Commission is holding a ‘special meeting’ on Thursday December 5th to discuss the zoning moratorium and plan for new zoning. Please attend by Zoom or in person.

• The moratorium should end. It serves no purpose

• The old zoning is in place. There is no legal debate otherwise

• At the last Planning Commission meeting, we asked to delay the work on the zoning until after the holidays and until all the Boards and Commissions were newly seated. There are 19 openings on the City of Harbor Springs Boards ready for fresh faces and volunteers.

• The zoning survey issued recently by the City jumps the gun. It isn't very clear. It has no controls to ensure relevant statistical input. It is easily answered multiple times by the same person. It has no controls to verify submissions by property owners, citizens, or random trolls.

• There is no need to rush to adopt new zoning. The newly seated Planning Commission that meets, starts in late January. That commission should have room to lay out a proper plan. The meetings in December that the Chair of the Planning Commission has scheduled should be delayed until the new Boards and Commissions are in place.

• With a new Mayor and the rejection of the #439 zoning by majority vote, we should thank the current planning commission for their effort, but pick new leadership going forward.

Steps to Rebuild the Zoning Code:

1. Community Input Sessions: Host public forums, town halls, neighborhood meetings, and actionable educational surveys to gather feedback from all residents, including seasonal and year-round voices.

2. Letters to the Editor: Allow the town newspaper to reinstate the Letters to the Editor. They can take a position for or against an issue, or simply inform, or both. Letters are helpful, and can convince readers by using emotions, or facts, or emotions and facts combined.

3. Independent Review: Engage a third-party expert to review the zoning code and recommend improvements based on community input.

4. Transparent Decision-Making: Commit to a clear and public process for drafting and approving the revised zoning code.

5. Regular Updates: Keep residents informed throughout the process to build trust and encourage participation.

6. Inclusivity in Leadership: Ensure representation from diverse groups in the community to avoid the perception of favoritism or exclusion.

Key Priorities in the Zoning

Key zoning issues: There are several zoning issues that need discussions to get it right. We are a bit frustrated with an unrelenting push by a small group to change Harbor Springs. We will stand firm on several key issues in the zoning as we have outlined many times through the process.

Transparency: Meetings of the Planning Commission by law require transparency. Harbor Springs Planning Commission ByLaws require notice of public meetings, even for sub-committee discussions. All meetings should be available for public participation and recorded over Zoom. These include the planning commission sub-committee and RRC committee meetings.

Notification: Talking to your neighbors improves the community. Each neighborhood has a unique style and community. We have full-time, part-time, summer, and transient neighbors. When people build on their property, they should be required to notify their neighbors. When the city changes zoning, they should be required to notify all affected property owners by mail.

District Town Halls: WLHS does not represent the YES vote. We have a sense of the concerns. But each district should meet in a town hall setting and discuss housing types, by right, setbacks, etc, in their zoning district.

Economic Plan: The city should cease efforts to change the age demographic or the balance of full-time, part-time, etc. This is not the role of the planning commission. The city can figure it out independently without the Commission picking sides: Economic Development Plan

Affordable Housing: Housing costs are a challenge. Economics, not zoning, is the driving force. Many people have thoughts on how to improve affordability. The group interested in housing affordability should form its own effort, build a plan, and come to the Planning Commission with a proposal. That proposal should be debated in public and adopted if there is broad consensus.

Agreeable Agendas: When planning commissions push for a specific agenda, like altering the median age of the population or changing the housing density of the city, they move from arbitrator to activist. As the planning commission moves to a political agenda, it degrades its arbitration function.

Conclusion

We have this opportunity for Harbor Springs to work together to reflect the values and vision of our community. A new zoning code will shape Harbor Springs for decades, so we must take the time to get it right—together. We believe every resident of Harbor Springs—whether here year-round or seasonally—deserves a say in decisions that affect the future of our town. We are committed to creating a zoning code that is fair, transparent, and representative of the entire community.

Unity is a collective effort.  It is our responsibility to act together with an awareness that all eyes are on us as we forge ahead. We want a clear, actionable roadmap for improving the zoning code.

Happiness is….Wishing all

our readers a very

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you all!