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Glenn Puit: Give Emmet an ‘A’

Blog Archive | March 19, 2009 | By Glenn Puit

We are sending out some kudos this week to Emmet County for the very impressive Comprehensive Plan its board of commissioners approved last month....


Shauna Fite: Benzie’s Opportunity Summit

Blog Archive | March 3, 2009 | By Shauna Fite

Over 60 people filled the PRA Bingo Hall, as it’s known in Benzie County, on a blustery Saturday to discuss ways to mend and build relations among county and township governments....

Glenn Puit: Less SLAPP-Happy?

Blog Archive | February 22, 2009 | By Glenn Puit

A costly legal battle between a big-box developer and Emmet County’s Bear Creek Township is winding down, and the news is mixed....

Brian Beauchamp: Can Grand Vision Fix TC’s Big Division?

Blog Archive | February 12, 2009 | By Brian Beauchamp

Traverse City’s Division Street is well named....

Glenn Puit: One County, Several Worlds

Blog Archive | January 29, 2009 | By Glenn Puit

Nearly a year ago, we reported on the significant cultural and political divides in Benzie County that have led, in part, to two townships pulling out of countywide planning and zoning....


Glenn Puit: Seger Out, Neiger In

Blog Archive | January 9, 2009 | By Glenn Puit

In two head-turning reversals, Benzie County has fired its zoning administrator, Craig Seger, and revoked its earlier decision to eliminate longtime county planner Dave Neiger....


Glenn Puit: Commissioner-Elect Tanner Speaks Out

Blog Archive | November 18, 2008 | By Glenn Puit

A newly elected member of the Benzie County Board of Commissioners says the next couple of months will be a critical time for countywide planning and zoning in Benzie, and he also thinks it’s likely that longtime county Planner Dave Neiger is likely to stay on the county payroll despite previous attempts to oust him from his position....


Glenn Puit: Reprieve for a Planner

Blog Archive | October 30, 2008 | By Glenn Puit

Longtime Benzie County Planner Dave Neiger now has a job for at least a couple more months, but questions continue to surface about the future of county-wide planning and zoning in Benzie County....

Jim Lively: Fill It Out - It Is Easy (Really!)

Blog Archive | October 21, 2008 | By Jim Lively

We are looking far into the future, so don’t let current master plans, zoning, or political bickering hold you back....


Glenn Puit: An Apology, a Defense of Cuts

Blog Archive | October 7, 2008 | By Glenn Puit

Benzie County Zoning Administrator Craig Seger apologized to the planning commission Tuesday night for the furor caused by his role in the ouster of longtime Benzie County planner Dave Neiger....

Glenn Puit: The Little Program That Could

Blog Archive | October 1, 2008 | By Glenn Puit

Big things are happening in a small office in Houghton, Mich., on the campus of Michigan Technological University, and they are affecting kids in classrooms across the state, as well as citizen planners literally around the world....


Brian Beauchamp: My New Job Is Fun

Blog Archive | June 26, 2008 | By Brian Beauchamp

Since starting my new job last week as a policy specialist with the Michigan Land Use Institute, I have gained a unique, inside view of the good work that is coming out of this shop....


Jim Lively: Jumping Through Bureaucratic Hoops to Get on the Grand Vision Bus

Blog Archive | March 11, 2008 | By Jim Lively

The next Grand Vision workshops on March 20th at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center are all about regional transportation solutions for the future. ...


Jim Lively: It is Elementary - Smart Growth Requires Neighborhood Schools

Blog Archive | February 19, 2008 | By Jim Lively

Those are all big changes if they are affecting your child – but the decisions about closing schools have much broader implications for the entire community....


Julie Hay: Grand Visions, Handstands, and What-Ifs

Blog Archive | January 28, 2008 | By Julie Hay

“Handstands will help bring about world peace, for it is when we are upside down that we can best understand an opposing viewpoint.”...


Good Regional Planners Are Hard to Find

Blog Archive | March 23, 2007 | By Jim Lively

With more than 1,700 local units of government, Michigan is not a state that readily embraces regional planning. Local control is fervently defended. No big government bureaucrat will tell us how to plan our communities....

Higher Standards: Why I Will Not Shop Meijer

Great Towns | March 20, 2007 | By Jim Lively

I want to like Meijer. They are a Michigan-based company. They even sell fruits and vegetables grown by local farmers. But they flat-out refuse to respect Acme Township’s right to manage growth and maintain small-town character....


LUTS: So, What Is Holding up the Parade?

Blog Archive | March 8, 2007 | By Jim Lively

Nearly two years ago, 34 people, including yours truly, formed a new community group with a big mission: launch a Land Use and Transportation Study that would allow people in the Grand Traverse region to work together to figure out how they want the area to grow in the coming decades....


What the Heck Is LUTS and How Can It Save the Grand Traverse Region?

Blog Archive | March 7, 2007 | By Jim Lively

You know that sinking feeling we get driving by our favorite orchard and seeing rows of new houses replacing cherry trees? Or when we shop at ugly, new, big-box stores for low prices even though we know we are helping to drive small, local stores out of business? Or when we find ourselves stuck in long lines of traffic just trying to get home for dinner—or take the kids to the beach?...

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