Safe pedestrian crossings across US-31. More diverse dining, shopping, and public gathering spaces. A public pier at the end of Four Mile Road. Public promenades to the TART Trail, food trucks, mixed-use and workforce housing, and increased trees, lighting, signage, and other placemaking elements.

Those are among the top priorities and projects identified in a new vision and action plan for the East Bay Beach District unveiled at a public open house Tuesday at Harbor Brook Hall in East Bay Township. The plan – funded by grants from Michigan’s Coastal Management Program and the USDA’s Rural Development Program – is the result of a months-long process including surveys, a multi-day design charrette, stakeholder meetings, and pop-up events to envision a new approach to the US-31 corridor. More than 500 respondents representing business owners, corridor employees and residents, and members of the public weighed in on different design options and topics including pedestrian and transportation priorities, desired corridor amenities, infrastructure investments, and water access.

“There’s a huge desire for a stronger sense of identity and sense of place along that corridor,” says Township Director of Planning & Zoning Claire Karner. “There are a tremendous amount of people going through the corridor and visiting it. There’s an opportunity to create more options to move through the corridor – by foot, by bike, and by car – and to market it as more of a commercial district where people can go and spend an afternoon.”

Karner says improved pedestrian crossings on US-31 – which has seen multiple accidents from people darting across the highway due to a lack of designated crossings – was “unsurprisingly the number one priority” among respondents. “That is paramount to the success of this visioning effort,” she says, “making sure there’s safe access on either side of the corridor given all the destinations along there.” Placemaking amenities – like wayfinding signage, pedestrian-scale lighting, wider sidewalks, and street trees to calm traffic – also ranked highly among respondents, as did more diverse options for dining, shopping, and gathering spaces.

East Bay Township and consulting firm Beckett & Raeder identified several properties ripe for redevelopment – including both public and private parcels, with private property owners participating in the process – and created conceptual designs that were refined throughout the year by public input. The Grand Traverse County Road Commission has expressed a willingness to transfer a parcel it owns on the north end of Four Mile Road to East Bay Township for potential use as a park or community space. The draft vision unveiled Tuesday calls for a public pier at the site (pictured, rendering). “It’s an initial conceptual idea...but it could provide an access point for people to get out on the water who don’t have a boat or other means to get out onto East Bay,” Karner says.

A property west of Four Mile called the O’Grady parcel – which is currently listed on the market – drew interest from respondents as a site that could host food trucks or restaurants, TART Trail access and trailhead parking, a pocket park and/or workout area, and a mixed-use development and gathering space. The current owners “have the conceptual renderings (from the vision and action plan) included in their marketing for that parcel,” Karner says. “It’s a really great resource to have a community-supported vision for those private properties.” At the Mitchell Creek Inn – where the owners have signaled their desire to retire – respondents supported a vision for on-site public natural areas, outdoor gathering space, restaurants and food trucks, and the preservation of existing trees on the property.

After final tweaks are made from attendee feedback collected Tuesday, consultants and township staff will present the East Bay Beach District vision and action plan to township planning commissioners and trustees at a joint meeting in January, with the township board expected to vote on adopting it in February. East Bay Township has expressed from the start a desire to create a plan that could actually be implemented – not just sit on a shelf gathering dust. To that end, the plan includes a list of goals and concrete steps that can be taken to implement them. Updating corridor zoning to encourage multi-family and mixed-use developments, requiring new hospitality establishments to provide public amenities, requiring green infrastructure in future projects, completing the sidewalk network on both sides of US-31, and working with the Michigan Department of Transportation on installing landscaped medians and/or improved pedestrian and ADA crossings are examples of such action steps.

The township also has an implementation team that has been meeting monthly and is tasked with bringing the vision to life. “We have people on that team who have expertise in implementing large capital projects and public infrastructure improvements in commercial districts,” Karner says. “We’ll be looking closely at financing mechanisms. Once we have the community-supported vision, that’s the next step: figuring out how to make that a reality.”

In the meantime, the township is already focusing on “low-hanging fruit” to help rebrand the East Bay Beach District and promote the businesses within it. Flight Path Creative helped developed a new logo and website/online business directory for the corridor, with new banners installed along US-31 and printed brochures to be distributed to local businesses. Karner says gateway signage will be installed at both corridor ends, as well as decals on the TART Trail welcoming people to the East Bay Beach District. “It’s about creating a sense of identity while we’re working on some of the bigger-ticket items,” Karner says.