CITY AND COUNTY PLANNING

League of Women Voters^®
of the Midland Area

Adopted 1970, 1972, Amended 1984, Updated 2003

We support. Amplification of Planning Consensus.

The League of Women Voters of the Midland Area believes that the thoughtful and active participation and support of informed citizens is the top priority in the development and implementation of Midland City and County planning.

We support

1. Long range comprehensive master plans for Midland County and its cities and townships;
2. General adherence to the recommendations of the Land Use Plans when developing zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations;
3. Regular review and updating of master plans for all jurisdictions;
4. The use of federal and state grants for planning projects where feasible;
5. The continued cooperation and communication of the planning groups within the county and with other jurisdictions in the region.

Amplification of Planning Consensus

We believe that Planning Commissions should act as public representatives and vehicles for citizen involvement. Members of the Planning Commissions should be appointed by an elected body of the appropriate local government unit. A strong effort should be made to appoint commissions broadly representative of the community with a diversity of viewpoints. Consideration should be given to gender, race, socio-economic, geographic and ethnic factors. League members support the concept of neighborhood councils to work with the planning commissions.
We support continued semi-monthly meetings of the City Planning Commission and monthly meetings of the County Planning Commission. To facilitate citizen involvement, regular and timely announcements should be made preceding the meetings and attempts should be made to secure regular positions in the newspaper for these announcements.
Any proposal affecting the City or County plans should be announced in the newspaper and presented at regular Planning Commission meetings. There should be many means by which each citizen can easily obtain a copy of the plans and/or proposed actions. Meetings where more than one governmental group is involved should likewise be publicized to all affected parties.
We believe that, in addition to hearings prescribed by state law, there should be a mechanism for calling additional hearings by either the public or governing bodies.
The City Council and the County Board of Commissioners should adopt capital improvements program budgets annually with the procedure being the same as for their regular annual budgets. Citizens should participate in the capital improvements program through public hearings.
The County should encourage townships to adhere to minimum standards for zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations and to enforce building and housing codes.
The League believes that Planning Departments should be staffed by professionals and that planning should have a high priority in governmental budgets.

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