Prior to determining future land uses and developing a future land use map, a community must have an accurate assessment of existing land uses.  This chapter presents information on both the types and location of existing land uses.  The process identifies both urban built-up land uses such  as  residential  and  commercial  along  with  natural  land  cover  types  like  forests  and wetlands.  As a result the final map presented in this chapter is a hybrid that combines land cover and land use.

Land Division Pattern 

As development occurs, larger tracts of land are generally broken down into smaller parcels.  Therefore, studying the existing pattern of land divisions is one way to analyze the status of land use and development.  Land division patterns for Secord Township are discussed below. State lands account for almost 35 percent or 5249 acres in Secord Township.  Most of the private ownership is in tracts that are ½ acre or smaller on the Secord Lake shoreline.  Larger tracts of private ownership, typically farmland, are found throughout the Township.  Subdivisions and small tracts are clustered along primary county roads, M-30 and Secord Lake.

Existing Land Cover/Use Characteristics 

Township mapped existing land cover/use in the Township in 2012.  The map of existing land use, shown as Figure 5‐1, illustrates the distribution of land uses throughout the Township.  Michigan Resource Information System (MIRIS) land cover/use classification categories were used to map the existing land cover/use.   The map represents an update of the 1978/1999 MIRIS land cover/use map.  The MIRIS map was updated with 2005 digital Ortho‐photos.  The updated information was then digitized to produce the existing land cover/use map and statistics.  Table 5-1 presents the land uses showing the number of acres and percent of the Township in each of the land use categories.

Figure 5-1. Existing Land Use Map

Forestland (mostly state-owned) and shoreline houses dominate the landscape of Secord Township.  Lowland forests growing on  poorly  drained  soils  are  concentrated  in  the  eastern  and  southwestern  parts  of  the Township.  These lowland forests provide important wildlife cover and protecting water quality.  Farming is sparse with most of the commerce around the Secord Lake in the central part of the community.  Residential uses are scattered around the Township, with the biggest population around the Lake.  Commercial and industrial land uses are concentrated along the M‐30 and Secord Dam Road corridor.  The majority of the Township is low‐density residential development on both large and small tracts throughout the township.

Table 5.1  Secord Township Existing Land Use Statistics: 2012 

Agricultural Land Use

As can be seen in Table 5-1, agricultural use occupies approximately 36.6 percent or (5626 acres) of the land in the Township.  These figures include farmstead residential as well as agricultural development.  Majority of this land use type is in the eastern part of the township on either side of the Secord Dam Road.  These are mostly parcels more than 2 acres.  A small portion of the southwestern edge along M-30 is also agricultural use.  It is the Plan's intent to discourage high-density developments in this land use to maintain the rural character and resort community feel.

Residential Land Use 

As can be seen in Table 5-1, residential use R-1 occupies approximately 6.8 percent (1049 acres) of the land in the Township.  The R-1 residential is lakefront property on Secord Lake.  The R-2 residential is non-lakefront property and is in general parcels of 5 to 100 acres.  Single-family residential parcels account for essentially all of the residential development in Secord Township.  These figures include shoreline residential and subdivisions.  Residential development is scattered throughout the Township but tends to be concentrated along the Secord Lake shoreline, the Tittabawassee River and a couple of major roads as shown in Figure 5-1 Existing Land Use Map.  The remaining is dispersed throughout the Township.  It may be desirable to service all of this area with public water and sewer systems in the coming future.  Current township zoning regulations require minimum lot sizes of 12,000 square feet for both single-family and two-family dwellings.

Commercial Land Use 

Secord Township has limited commercial development of general retail and service businesses in the township, primarily to serve the day-to-day needs of the community year-round.  General uses include small-scale retail, personal service establishments, food services, marina, and marine repair and storage facilities occurring primarily along Secord Dam Road and M-30.  Just over 300 acres, a little under 2 percent of the Township's total land area is developed for commercial/industrial uses.  The Township’s closeness to the City of Gladwin precludes it from development of a big commercial center.  Plus the township does not desire to lose its resort community character by too much traffic or commerce.

Forests and Wetlands

The existing land use map shows these within the Agriculture and Residential categories.  But, majority of these lands are owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE).  In addition to scenic characteristics, woodlands provide habitat for wildlife, protect the soil from erosion and act as a buffer from noise on heavily traveled highways.  It serves as a preserved watershed for the wetlands and the other surface waters in the township.

Wetlands are defined as land that has sufficient water at, or near, the surface to support wetland or aquatic vegetation.  These areas are commonly referred to as swamps, marshes and bogs.  The wetland category comprises non‐forested types such as lowland brush (tag alder and willow), sphagnum bogs, emergent vegetation in lakes and stream flooding and wet meadows.  As can be noted on Figure 5.1 Existing Land Use Map, the major wetland areas are adjacent to rivers and the Lake.  The network of wetlands receives surface water and subsurface water discharge creating the many streams and creeks that, in turn, flow into the area lakes.  The interconnected resources exemplify how activities distant from major water bodies can still have an impact on the water quality.  It is important to note that existing land use statistics used in this report are based on MIRIS data.  Forested and wetland information contained in the MIRIS data was not verified by field inspection when the data was compiled.  Thus, areas shown as wetlands on the MIRIS system  may  not  actually  meet  State  and  Federal  criteria  for  legally  regulated  wetlands.  However, the information is still valuable for general land use planning decisions.

The National Wetland Inventory (NWI) maps are more for informational purposes and do not show the exact presence or location of wetlands, nor do they necessarily indicate areas that are regulated by law.  These maps were generated mainly through aerial interpretation and serve as a starting point to suggest that wetlands might occur in those areas and likely need further investigation when planning.  In order to determine if wetland is actually present on a site, wetland delineation would need to be completed by a wetland professional, usually undertaken by a person proposing the development.  The NWI maps will show areas that were historically wetland that are now developed.

Figure 5.2 Secord Wetlands Map

In addition, the actual presence of a wetland on a site does not necessarily mean that it is regulated by State law (i.e., requiring a permit from MDEQ to impact).  Wetlands must meet certain criteria to be regulated in Michigan under Part 303, Wetlands Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended.  Furthermore, just because a wetland is regulated does not automatically mean that no construction can occur.  A permit application must be submitted prior to construction and will be reviewed by MDEQ staff to determine if it meets criteria in state law and a permit can be issued.

Please visit www.mi.gov/wetlands for a whole host of information that may answer a lot of your questions regarding wetland maps, regulations, the permitting process, fees, and where to submit wetland permit applications.  

Surface Water

Open water comprises 576 acres of Secord Township, including Secord Lake and the Tittabawassee River.