What is a Master Plan?

A Master Plan is a blueprint, or a roadmap, for how our community should evolve and how it should develop. It guides development in the City by addressing future land uses and community development in a coordinated fashion that is sustainable, resilient and age friendly. It includes a clearly stated vision supported by goals and objectives, and an implementation plan with specific action items that should be continually referred to in our decision-making processes and that will allow us to work towards our vision. If followed carefully, the Master Plan will have a lasting impact on both the built and natural environment by shaping future development to fit our collective vision.

This Master Plan Update will be a continuation of the City’s long-standing history of innovative thinking. Through robust community engagement activities and looking at the community through a lens at the neighborhood level, the resulting plan will be derived from scenario planning that assesses different development options, while honoring our history and unique character.

What is this Master Plan process all about?

Overview of the planning process

This Master Plan will also create a new focus on sustainability and placemaking as important strategies for maintaining the high quality of life in the City and maintaining our status as the preeminent place to live, work and raise a family. This approach will keep Rochester Hills among the top cities in the region for attracting new talent for high-tech, high-wage jobs and furthering the City’s economic development efforts.

The format of the Master Plan Update itself will also be unique in that it will be primarily an online, interactive storymap, intended to allow residents, business owners, and visitors to easily explore the City’s vision. The highlights of the Plan will also be captured in an executive summary PDF for a more traditional reading experience.