Sixteen years ago, the Planning Committee and the Voting Board embarked on a project that would help shape the future of Highland Lakes.  The goal of that project was to set standards and goals for the Community to both remember its past and carve its future.  The Board hired a planning consultant who interviewed Board members, Committee members and Community members on a number of areas including historical facts, technical data, geographical specifications and future direction.  He worked closely with the Planning Committee and constructed a draft Community plan.  This process began in 1988.  It took the Planning Consultant about two years to complete his draft and another five years for the Planning Committee to fine tune it, present it to the Voting Board and become a finalized adopted version.  The Community Plan was as complete as possible at the time.  The plan was intended as a planning and guiding tool. 

Many of the improvements spanning the period from 1995 to 2004 are directly related to recommendations in the Community Plan.  The Planning Committee often referred to the plan when considering land use recommendations by the Voting Board as a guide to cost vs. benefit analyses.  The Community Plan, as originally designed served its purpose well.

As years went by and improvements continued, the Community Plan became outdated in many areas.  The Chronology of Events, for instance was lacking new milestones that needed to be added.  The communal area descriptions needed to reflect changes.  New programs and activities had been added that were not in the original Plan.  New challenges that needed to be addressed were not part of the original document. 

When Vernon Township revised their Land Use Code to include a PLC (Private Lake Community) Zone, which set certain exclusionary parameters for residents within the PLC, the Planning Committee began a revised Community Plan.  The revisions were intended to accomplish two major goals: 

1:  Update the Community Plan to include improvements and new goals for the future and

2: further fine tune the exclusionary parameters to conform to Highland Lakes Standards.

Under the guidance of Planning Committee Chairman, Don Ross and the work of the entire Planning Committee the main objective of the goals noted above were incorporated into the 2004 Revised Community Plan and it was presented to the Voting Board in September, 2004.  The Voting Board spent several months discussing the plan at numerous meetings and in May, 2005 it was finally submitted to the Township Planning Board for review and adoption. 

Representatives of the Voting Board attended the March 8, 2006 Vernon Township Planning Board Meeting to give a short presentation of the Community Plan and on March 22, 2006 Township Engineer, Fred Suljic presented his favorable opinion on the Community Plan to the Planning Board.  

At the March 22, 2006 meeting, the Vernon Township Planning Board adopted a resolution to accept the 2004 Highland Lakes Country Club and Community Association Revised Community Plan.

The Community Plan will now be sent to the Township Committee for approval and adoption as a Filed Community Plan as defined in §1141a.1.C of the Vernon Township Comprehensive Land Development Subcode.  The Voting Board and the Planning Committee hope that this will be a quick process and we await a favorable vote. 

What this will mean for Highland Lakes, expedited procedures for minor site plan approval of: Principal use (s) buildings and or/parking facilities development or redevelopment of such facilities as:

Dams and lake structures

Docks, Boat launches, racks/storage facilities

Common use buildings and/or member structures or buildings reconstruction or construction

Parking facilities improvements or construction

Recreation Area reconstruction or construction

What it will do for Vernon Township

Retention of Lake Community character in sections of the township.