LATEST NEWS
Parking, and how a meeting in March didn’t reach the Realtors – yet
Let's have the conversation again. What are your thoughts ? Responsibility To ensure correct decision-making, adherence to State Law and the City Charter, and to avoid placing the City and its inhabitants and taxpayers at risk. While we are going to discuss parking...
A 5 Day Deadline -What happens when big box stores come to Emmet County? What happens to our local businesses?
The public comment period ends January 27, 2026. Anyone wishing to voice concerns may do so through EGLE’s website link: https://mienviro.michigan.gov/ncore/external/publicnotice/search. Enter HQF-AXAK-T2VJC in the reference number search box, click ADD COMMENT...
A New Way to Participate in the Planning Commission Meetings -With Suggestions
This is a speech Karin Offield prepared for the January 15th meeting - the version that was actually presented was very short. We received the speech in entirety and want to shout out to Barry Lusgarten for bringing this subject up and the Planning Commissioners...
ZONING
FOR MORE CLARITY ….Discussions about the zoning 12.13.25. From 2020-2025 Research on ARC & PD’s
Disclosure & Commitment to Open Dialogue We Love Harbor Springs is committed to fairness, transparency, and careful research. The information shared on this site is offered in good faith to support informed public discussion. Facts, interpretations, and...
Harbor Lights’ Report on November 20th, Planning Commission Meeting.
After the holidays, we will provide context. If you have questions, contact us. Thank you. Planning Commission stands behind zoning code recommendation as sent to City Council HARBOR SPRINGS By Harbor Light News Staff on November 26, 2025 By Kate Spaulding Harbor...
Not Overlooking Community Input and Visualizing Future Consequences
A kind of Lecture: https://www.cityofharborsprings.com/2021-master-plan-updates/ In the complex web of urban planning, the creation of a master plan and the zoning code that follows are not merely technical exercises. They are the backbone of a city’s future...
Update: Karin Offield on the Proposed Zoning Code – 11.17.25 PC Meet and the Suggested Changes by City Planner Lynee Wells, Aligned Planning
Zoning Update - Rust to Judgement Nov 20, 2025 “My joy comes from knowing that, instead of reverting to the entirety of the repealed #439 Zoning Code, since last years election, the Planning Commission genuinely listened. They took to heart the community comments...
November 13, 2025 Public Meeting for the Proposed Zoning Code – Please attend
One more look at the proposed zoning code for the community and by the Planning Commission before approval? Here is the proposed code. We will add to this post, as elements become available. Proposed Zoning Code...
10.10.2025 Sixty Questions / Issues the Community raised/ Answered
To the readers: We have left intact in the document below issues that were discussed by the Planning Commissioners during the September 18th and October 16th. The list represents conversations, emails, meetings that have taken place before and during the Open Houses...
Thanks from a True Blue Local
Thoughts From a True Blue Local Harbor Springs is one of the few places left that is so naturally beautiful, so surrounded by abundant natural resources, so, dare we say inherently charming, people are not only drawn to it, they want to make it their own. So people...
WLHS BLOG
What Do You Love Most About Your Neighborhood?
After last night’s Planning Commissioner meeting, I left with a lot on my mind — and maybe you did too. It got me thinking: What do I love most about my neighborhood? About our downtown?Is it the undulating rooflines, the mix of buildings that still carry hints of the...
Going it Alone
Let’s take a moment and imagine Harbor Springs without second homes, and second home owners. No grand turn-of-the-century cottages. No yachts in the bay. No Irish’s, no Walstrom’s, no ferry. No bustling art fairs, no car shows, no boutique-lined streets. Just a quiet...
Slippery When Wet: A Reflection on Jakob’s Ladder and the Path Forward
There was a time when Jakob’s Ladder wasn’t just a staircase—it was a lifeline. Kids scampered up and down its weather-worn steps, backpacks swinging and laughter echoing down the bluff. It was a necessary connection, a vital piece of everyday life. But times change,...
Financial Priorities – A Community Conversation – Opinions & Help requested.
Subject: Revisiting Our Financial Priorities—A Community Conversation I'm not a financial planner or an accountant, but like many of us, I’ve been paying attention to how our city talks about money, growth, and the future. Five years ago, we were told that Harbor...
Forming Opinions – Community Driven
What we like to do is research, research...and then write papers or reports and share them. Delivering information to readers, helping add to the conversations and delivering transparency when often a subject is so dense - understanding it is at a minimum. Building a...
Father’s Day – Thank you to our Harbor Springs’ fathers: Already There: On Style, Soul, and Staying Power
We are not waiting to become cool. We are cool. Always have been. You don’t have to invent culture where it’s already humming. Take a walk through Harbor Springs any time of year—and you’ll feel it. There’s a rhythm, an elegance, a kind of future-facing nostalgia...
My Two Cents
Dear Planning Commissioners, Housing in Harbor Springs isn’t a political problem—it’s a math problem. Just 1.3 square miles, nestled between a bay and a bluff, with demand sky-high and supply naturally limited. That’s not ideology. That’s geography. Yes, I’ve never...
DDA
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EVENTS
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HISTORY
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NATIONAL & LOCAL PRESS
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LETTERS
To the Community – Now 4.24- 8.11.24
To members of the City Council; This paragraph is in reference to the delicate and important balance principle homeowners and most importantly second homeowners play in the economic balance of Harbor Springs – a resort town. In a business sense our second homeowners...
Letter: 4.3.24 Please Mr. Mayor let’s hold a Town Hall about the Zoning
From: Karin Offield Subject: Letter from Karin Offield about a Town Hall scheduling Date: April 3, 2024 at 5:09:59 PM EDT To: Matt Bugera <mjBugera@gmail.com>, Jamielynnmelke@gmail.com, kathy.motschall@yahoo.com Cc: mbehrmann@cityofharborsprings.com,...
SURVEYS
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CORRECTIONS
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RRC – ARCHIVED
1.4.24 Planning Commission Meeting- A Power Point of the RRC Zoning
Chair Mulder presented a power point presentation updating the Planning Commission on the tasks and progress of the Planning Commission Sub-Committee. Planning Commission member Emily Dube asked what resources were utilized in arriving at the proposals included.