The potential of Michigan’s waterfront communities to attract people for work, living, and play is hampered when waterfronts lack public access, walkability, or a mix of scenic and civic uses. Now a self-assessment tool and workshop can help communities support their waterfronts to be sustainable and economically vibrant centers for public life.

“It’s exciting to see different parts of a community come together with a vision for their waterfront—seeing where they are right now and where they might want to be,” says Mark Breederland, an extension educator and workshop facilitator for Michigan Sea Grant.

Michigan’s Waterfront Smart Growth Readiness Assessment Tool is a voluntary self-audit that is undertaken by officials and stakeholders in waterfront communities during facilitated workshops.

In 2010 and 2011, eight communities piloted the tool, and more communities will participate in the coming months. The online tool asks the community to rate its performance on waterfront smart growth principles such as compact community design, the preservation of open space and natural beauty, community collaboration, and other factors (see “Smart Growth Coastal and Waterfront Elements”).

Each community later receives an objective score and written summary outlining its smart growth successes, benchmarking its progress, and suggesting potential areas of improvement.

The Michigan Citizen Planner, Planning and Zoning Center, and Land Policy Institute of Michigan State University (MSU) developed the waterfront smart growth tool, which was inspired by and adapted from MSU’s original Smart Growth Readiness Assessment Tool.

Michigan Sea Grant and MSU’s Greening Michigan Institute facilitate the workshops and complete final reports. Tool development was funded by NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management through Michigan’s Coastal Zone Management Program.

Assets And Challenges

With 3,288 miles of coast, second in length only to Alaska, Michigan has many waterfront assets.

The state’s coastal communities front four Great Lakes and provide homes for 44 percent of Michigan’s population. Moreover, an estimated 804,381 state jobs relate to the Great Lakes and translate into $54 billion in annual employee compensation, according to “Michigan’s Great Lakes Jobs,” a 2009 report by Michigan Sea Grant.

“Waterfront communities have a competitive advantage because people want to work and play there,” says Breederland. “Many of our towns want to strengthen their waterfront economy by preserving character and public access, but challenges may be in the way. This tool was developed to help them understand both their success and their problems, so they can succeed.”

Michigan’s challenges are shared by many other U.S. waterfront communities. For instance, the departure of big industry may have left brownfields and structural eyesores along the waterfront. The waterfront may be dominated by one or two types of uses that are spread out, instead of a mix of uses placed close together that draw many people. Or it may have transitioned from water-dependent uses, like fisheries, to non-water-dependent uses such as condo construction that block scenic views or access to natural resources.

One City’s Experience

The City of Alpena and its surrounding township are located in northeastern Michigan along Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay and Thunder Bay River.

“When we took the self-assessment, we were quite pleased to see our successes,” says Greg Sundin, the city’s director of planning and development. Alpena’s waterfront area includes a picturesque downtown with commercial, recreational, and tourism sectors; an 18.5-mile loop for biking, walking, and inline skating; and easy access to Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Moreover, in 2010 a new zoning ordinance adopted by the City of Alpena included a mixed-use waterfront development district that encourages property ownership and water-related land uses while opening up public access to the waterfront.

“One thing the assessment made clear is that we needed a better working knowledge of how our local waterfront regulation process related to state and federal regulations,” says Sundin. “As a result, we are strengthening this weak information link so we can better assist our riverfront property owners in understanding the permits they need, which agencies have to be involved, and how to start the process.”

Onward And Upward

With results in on the pilot, the project partners are now considering a few adjustments that could make the tool and webpage more accessible and user friendly. A second wave of self-assessment workshops is also planned.

One of the best experiences for Breederland is seeing how communities use self-assessment to build smart growth momentum. “At the end of one workshop, people volunteered to stay afterward, and they decided to meet twice a year from then on to track their progress with waterfront smart growth,” he says.

The self-assessment is designed so it can be repeated. “We have hopes,” Breederland says, “of going back to these communities a few years from now and watching them congratulate themselves when their smart growth scores go up.”

For more information on the Waterfront Smart Growth Readiness Assessment Tool, contact Wayne R. Beyea, extension specialist and instructor for Michigan State University’s School of Planning, Design, and Construction at beyea@msu.edu or (517) 432-7600. You can also learn more by visiting www.landpolicy.msu.edu/sgrat/pages/about.html.

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Smart Growth Coastal and Waterfront Elements

• Mix land uses, including water-dependent uses.
• Take advantage of compact community design that enhances, preserves, and provides access to waterfront resources.
• Provide a range of housing opportunities and choices to meet the needs of both seasonal and permanent residents.
• Create walkable communities with physical and visual access to and along the waterfront for public use.
• Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place that capitalizes on the waterfront’s heritage.
• Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and the critical environmental areas that characterize and support coastal and waterfront communities.
• Strengthen and direct development toward existing communities and encourage waterfront revitalization.
• Provide a variety of land- and water-based transportation options.
• Make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost-effective through consistent policies and coordinated permitting processes.
• Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions, ensuring that public interests in and rights of access to the waterfront and coastal waters are upheld.

From Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities at www.coastalsmartgrowth.noaa.gov/smartgrowth_fullreport.pdf.