This page describes the activities HRWC is working on that deal with encouraging communities, businesses and individuals to make land use decisions that are protective of all of the waters (including groundwater) in the watershed. Photo at right is a vegetated buffer. One recommended zoning ordinance change is to require vegetated buffers where no development is allowed around waterways. SOURCE: Northeast Illinois Planning Commission and Chicago Wilderness.

HRWC hopes to make community decision-makers as well as individual citizens aware of the impacts of land development on the water resources in the Huron Watershed. By empowering citizens to participate in the public planning process in their communities and by providing tools and data to community decision-makers, more informed land use decisions will result in a healthier Huron River and other water resources (groundwater, wetlands, etc) of the Huron Watershed. For more information on how land use impacts the river, check out the HRWC Impacts of Land Use - Impervious Surfaces webpage.

HRWC has several land use program activities including: a land-use planning course and resource/discussion group and a Community Information System CD for Washtenaw County. In addition HRWC has a guidebook regarding responsible development in rural areas. Also, see HRWC's watershed managment planning programs in the Upper Huron, Middle Huron and Lower Huron, which provide land use planning tools to communities as part of the watershed management planning process.

Land Use Planning for a Healthy Watershed: The Role of the Local Citizen
Michigan is one of 13 states where most land-use decisions affecting river quality are made at the local level. Therefore, a citizen can have a real influence on the Huron River's future by understanding the process of local land-use policy and by taking action by playing a role in that process.

• Land Use Planning Course
  Periodically, HRWC conducts an eight session course designed for both local planning commissioners as well as citizens who want to influence the local planning commission.

  HRWC has written a companion text to the course, Citizen's Guide to Land Use Planning, which can be accessed on the web in two parts: Citizen's Guide - part 1 (pdf file is 834kb), Citizen's Guide - part 2 (pdf file is 401kb).

• Land Use Planning Monthly Resource/Discussion Group
  An outgrowth of the course is an ongoing monthly resource/discussion group that provides additional training and support and is open to new participants.

• Successes
  HRWC has sponsored the Land Use Planning for a Healthy Watershed course four times. The course has been featured in an issue of the Michigan Planner, the newsletter of the Michigan Society of Planning. Class members have formed community groups to work on local land use issues and have presented their concerns to their community planning commissions. Course graduates have been elected to local boards and have been appointed to their Planning Commissions as well as to advisory committees focused on such topics as stream study, storm water issues and well head protection.

  The value of the course is further shown by the members' request to continue to meet resulting in our ongoing resourse/discussion group.

Determining Limits to Development

• Problem: Sprawl and Gravel Roads
  Much of the rural large-lot residential development occurring in Michigan is in areas served by gravel roads. As growth continues, these roads become pitted and bumpy and require ever more frequent road grading. County Road Commissions, the agencies responsible for maintenance of these roads, have found it increasingly challenging to meet these road improvement needs.

• Problem: Sprawl and Water Quality
  Large-lot development also threatens the health of rural tributary streams. As impervious surfaces such as roads, rooftops, and even manicured lawns increase, storm water runoff causes flooding and reduced water quality. Studies have shown that once only 8 – 10% of a watershed becomes impervious, the receiving stream begins losing the ability to support aquatic life. Research also shows that large-lot subdivisions increase imperviousness by 10 - 50% more than do traditional town developments with the same number of households, and that they deliver up to three times more sediment into waterways.

• Solutions
  The Guidebook, How Much Development is Too Much? Guidebook on Using Impervious Surface and Gravel Road Capacity Analysis to Manage Growth in Rural and Suburban Communities and accompanying CD-ROM provide communities with new tools to develop defensible standards to better manage growth. The guidebook instructs communities on how to determine the traffic capacity of gravel roads and the threshold of impervious surface area above which local streams will begin to degrade. (Note: this pdf file is quite large - 10.4 megabytes. If this file size is too large for your web connection to handle, refer to the contact information at the bottom of this item to have a guidebook plus the CD of appendices mailed to you.)

• Successes
  As a result of HRWC's workshops on stream and gravel road capacities, the Washtenaw and Livingston County Road Commissions are working on performing the gravel road part of the analysis for all of the townships in their counties. HRWC hopes to complete the streams part of the analysis.

  Copies of the "How Much Development is Too Much?" Guidebook and CD-ROM of appendices are available from the HRWC or you can download it using the link above. Shipping and handling charges apply. Contact Kris HRWC at 734/769-5123 x16 for details.

Community Information System CD

• Community Information System CD - Washtenaw County
  Have you wondered whether that empty lot next to your house is ever going to be developed? Or whether your local government’s ordinance contains provisions that protect water quality? HRWC and the Land Information Access Association (LIAA) of Traverse City have created a "community information system" CD that can answer these questions and more for Washtenaw County residents. The system is housed on one CD and includes:
  • Detailed digital maps and associated databases for natural resources like soils, wetlands and woodlands; cultural resources like police stations and schools; and planning tools like model ordinances.
  • Multimedia information about the region, its natural resources, and the human impacts on those resources.
  • Tools communities and planners can use to assess impacts of development on natural resources.
  • Electronic versions of local master plans and ordinances.
  • A clear decision-matrix on the planning process.

  The goal of the project is to improve local land use planning decisions and encourage balanced, sustainable communities. The CD provides readily accessible information and tools to help in evaluating land use choices. The CD will help community leaders, citizens and businesses evaluate development alternatives and their long-term impacts on the County’s cultural and natural resources.

  HRWC and LIAA are especially interested in seeing the CD distributed in communities throughout the County. Those interested in educating their community or other interest groups about the CD and the issues covered in the CD will receive materials and guidance for conducting their own training sessions. Contact Kris Olsson at 734/769-5123 x16 or kolsson@hrwc.org.

• Successes
  The Community Information System CD for Washtenaw County has been distributed to over 150 people, including those who have shared it with the following organizations and communities: Ann Arbor City, Augusta Township, Pittsfield Township, Sylvan Township, Washtenaw County Drain Commissioner's Office, Ypsilanti City, Ypsilanti Township, Livingston County Sierra Club, Washtenaw area teachers, several design firms and land trusts.

Last Updated: February 2006