As I talk with residents of Delta County, I realize that most do not know that Delta County is upgrading their Master Plan with a total rewrite through the planning commission. Don’t get this confused with the five-year park plan that the county is completing now.

Master Plans are usually written for 20-year periods with reviews every five years. Master Plans set policy, how and where to spend money, and zoning regulations.

The purpose is to help communities create a vision of what they want the landscape to look like in the future. Master Plans also give guidance to the planning commission to set zoning districts and regulations, governing land use by establishing county zoning ordinances.

These county ordinances are used as a resource to develop regulations, including permitted uses; make provisions for permits and associated fees; designate a zoning administrator to enforce its provisions; and provide penalties for violations.

Delta County through its planning commission oversees zoning matters in nine townships within Delta County. All other townships and the cities do their own zoning. If you own property in Baldwin, Bay de Noc, Brampton, Cornell, Ensign, Fairbanks, Maple Ridge, Nahma and/or Wells Townships you should be interested in this Master Plan development because it can and will affect your private property rights.

Currently the planning commission has authorized a community survey for public comment through CUPPAD. This survey can be accessed at https://cuppad.org/delta-county-master-plan-survey/ for people to complete online or to print a copy. Paper copies can also be picked up and dropped off at the Delta County Service Center in the Building & Zoning office located at 2910 College Ave., Escanaba (next to the sheriff’s office).

Again, if you own property in one or more of the townships listed above, it would be to your benefit to fill out a survey. Anyone in the county can fill out the survey but the county can only develop regulations/ordinances on private property in the nine townships. Don’t let others from the cities and/or townships that provide their own zoning dictate what regulations you will have to abide with on your own property. As of now, there are more surveys turned in from other areas that do their own zoning within the county than the nine townships combined.

You will notice that some of the questions in my opinion are written in such a manner as to generate a certain outcome as all surveys do. There is not one question asking landowners if private property is important to them. If your private property rights are important to you as a landowner, write in the space provided under question 17 (is there anything else not addressed in the survey) “private property rights.”

In closing, don’t wait too long to fill out the survey because it will only be available for a short time. Also, if you know others who own property in one or more of the nine townships, encourage them to fill one out and return it.