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