By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com



Livingston County’s Master Plan has won a prestigious award.

Each year, the American Planning Association (APA), County Planning Division (CPD) and its sister organization, the National Association of County Planners (NACP) gives out County Planning Project Awards. Livingston County is the recipient of an Award of Merit in the Comprehensive Plan – Large Jurisdiction category for a population of 50,000 or more. The Livingston County Master Plan was adopted in October 2018. The intent of the Master Plan is to provide a big-picture, county-wide approach to planning in Livingston County that focuses on features that connect the twenty local units of government. Those features may be part of the built environment such as transportation corridors, natural features such as rivers and streams, or even land uses at the boundaries of Livingston County and each municipality.

The Master Plan is a fully web-based, interactive plan that focuses on presenting current national, state, regional, county and local planning and zoning trends and best practices with hundreds of supporting web links. The Master Plan includes ten subject chapters including Hazard Mitigation and Social Equity; that promote the importance of these lesser known, and seldom included master plan components. Livingston County does not currently have a county-wide zoning ordinance, so the Livingston County Master Plan is intended to influence both the master plans and zoning ordinances of our local communities. Both the Master Plan and a press release about the award are attached.