MARQUETTE DOWNTOWN WATERFRONT FORM BASED CODE PROJECT

The City of Marquette has been working with the community to develop a new approach to planning and zoning for the downtown waterfront - it is called a “Form-Based Code.” This new approach will help the community protect and enhance the character and form of the unique and historic waterfront district.

Link to map of planning area here

It all began with a weekend workshop -- called a “design charrette” – that was held on December 16^th and 17^th, 2006. A nationally-recognized team of design professionals, Ferrell Madden Associates, LLC, came to town and led the charrette to gather information about what citizens viewed as important parts of our Downtown Waterfront Area and how they would like to see it developed in the future.

There was a great amount of public participation at the charrette and at the consultants and planning team worked throughout the evening to subsequently develop a “work in progress” presentation that was presented to the community the following day.

For a copy of the PowerPoint presentation click here: Downtown Waterfront “Work in Progress” Presentation

The design professionals had presented a draft Form-Based code to the City of Marquette Planning Commission in February 2007. For the past 10 months, the Planning Commission has held several work sessions to finalize the draft and make the draft unique to Marquette. Special emphasis was given to the uniqueness of our climate and the configuration of our existing infrastructure.

The draft Downtown Waterfront Form-Based code is now in final form and will be presented to the community on January 23, 2008 at the Citizen’s Forum in Lakeview Arena. The presentation will start at 7:00 p.m. and all community residents are encouraged to attend and see how the planning team has addressed their vision for the downtown waterfront area.

For a copy of the final draft code click here: Final Draft Downtown Waterfront Form-Based Code