| Dr. Beebe distributed a summary outline to people in the audience. The summary |
|
| document identifies the parts of the 82-page master plan and shows the areas that are |
|
| proposed for land use changes as a result of their efforts. She explained that there are |
|
| not a lot of map changes recommended in the update. The consultants have tried to |
|
| enunciate a lot of policies to be used by the administration as a guide to dealing with |
|
| land use issues. Dr. Beebe mentioned the workshops to which the community was |
|
| invited and became involved. Early in the process the consultants identified 53 areas |
|
| that were susceptible to change. These were narrowed down to 11 areas, five of |
|
| which were described as opportunity areas. The 11 areas are covered in the Local |
|
| Areas report which is a separate file. Separate reports cover Auburn Road/Olde |
|
| Towne, Rochester Road right-of-way, Auburn/Adams area, and Landfill areas. The |
|
| consultants also performed a land use inventory on a parcel-by-parcel basis which is |
|
| available on GIS. The consultants also performed an inventory of land use by acres, |
|
| which showed that the largest growth has been in residential use. Only 13 percent of |
|
| the land in the city is still vacant. There has been a slight growth in retail with less than |
|
| one percent growth in office, research, heavy industrial, largely because of the lack of |
|
|
| Dr. Beebe described the general purposes of the update -- to improve the physical |
|
| environment of the city; to promote the general health, safety and welfare of the |
|
| community; to promote the interests of the community at large; to facilitate a |
|
| democratic determination of policies regarding land planning and physical |
|
| development; to provide for coordination of policies; to bring professional and |
|
| technical knowledge and experience to this process; to provide a set of land use |
|
| policies; to provide guidelines and overall policies that should network the whole |
|
| community about land planning decisions; to provide an understanding of the physical |
|
| and economic and social aspects of the community when looking at land use issues; to |
|
| recognize that Rochester Hills is essentially a built out community and to focus on the |
|
| remaining properties that are vacant and on redevelopment. |
|
