PART TWO - PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY

ISSUE IDENTIFICATION

 

An attitude survey of all owners of property in Forest Home Township was conducted before developing the guiding principles of this plan. This survey was conducted in 1995 with the assistance of Michigan State University Extension. A copy of the survey - Appendix A and Results - Appendix B.

 

To gather additional public input, two public meetings were held in the late spring of 1996 at which the "stakeholders" were invited to discuss eight possible development options for Forest Home Township. "Stakeholders" are defined as those persons owning in excess of 100 acres of land in Forest Home Township. These development options are outlined in a later section of this plan. In addition to the two stakeholder meetings, a survey was taken in the summer of 1996 of the stakeholders to provide an opportunity to obtain the views of all of the large land owners. This effort was necessary because owners of large blocks of land within the township hold the keys to success or failure of this plan by virtue of if or how, they decide to develop their land.

 

The Planning Committee members are representative of the cross section of residents of the township. All views have been heard in the development of this plan.

 

Public Opinion Survey Summary

 

The Public Opinion Survey undertaken with the assistance of MSU Extension with over 43% responding. The survey was designed with following outcomes:

 

1. identify perceived problems

 

2. determine the level of concerns

 

3. rate quality of life issues

 

4. receive suggestions for policy development issues

 

5.   use the results in medium to long range planning DEMOGRAPHICS OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS

 

Over 25% of respondents purchased their property within the past ten years.

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Nearly 50% of respondents have resided in this area for twenty years or less.

Nearly 30 percent of respondents have resided in the area over thirty years.

 

Over 50% of the respondents are registered voters in the township, roughly correlating to the number of seasonal residents.

 

Over 50% of respondents are year-round homeowners. Nearly 40% of respondents consider themselves to be seasonal homeowners.

 

Seventy-three percent of the respondents are over fifty years of age. Nearly 50% are older than sixty years.

Over 40% of respondents are retired.

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Over 60% of the respondents' property abuts a body of water. A person having ownership of property abutting a water body is typically referred to as being a riparian property owner. Riparians have certain rights to the use of the water not enjoyed by non-riparians.

The respondents included a high number of upper income households with nearly 40% reporting household incomes of more than $60,000 per year and nearly half of the respondents reported over $40,000 of household income. Over 75% of respondents reported over $30,000. Less than 2% reported household income under $10,000 per year.

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