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Lakefront Nodes A. Civic/ Cultural (Down-
Although a mixture of land uses is
typically desirable, to assure year- town Waterfront)
As stated in the introduction, the con- round use, there are instances where
ceptual framework of this plan is prem- concentrating uses is advantageous ei- The Civic & Cultural node is conceived
ised on the designation of four primary ther to contain adverse impacts, or to as the centerpiece of the lakefront, and
land use nodes along the Muskegon catalyze positive ones. Such affects are a principle focal point for the entire
lakefront: recreation/ natural habitat, also accounted for in the nodal concept City and region. Because of this dual
residential, commercial/ industrial and outlined below. role, it is important that it is visually
public/ institutional. The nodes, de- linked to downtown, and be physically
scribed below, were selected for their For instance, while certain port opera- integrated with it in terms of site plan-
physical characteristics and location, tions may actually help "animate", or ning and streetscape. It is also impor-
the level of current infrastructure, and add interest to the waterfront, heavy tant that the activities planned at this
their compatibility with surrounding port operations and aggregate storage location be distributed densely enough
land uses. are best concentrated at one particular to encourage pedestrian cross-traffic
area to mitigate impacts on (or take ad- and spill-over into downtown.
The node designations are not meant to vantage of) area infrastructure, to re-
preclude development identified pri- duce noise and other environmental and Principle uses appropriate for this node
marily with one particular node, at visual impacts. On the other hand, cul- include those recommended in the
other locations along the lake, or the tural and "tourist" facilities are best Master Plan, and repeated (augmented)
mixing of uses between nodes. For in- concentrated near downtown where here: Aquarium, Planetarium-
stance, it may be perfectly acceptable, they can form a "critical mass" of ac- Observatory, Arboretum-Botanical
and in fact desirable, to have housing tivities whose economic benefits can Gardens, Great Lakes Maritime/ Indus-
near port facilities even though housing spill-over into the heart of the City. try Museum, outdoor recreation/ sports
is most strongly associated with resort/ facilities, municipal fishing pier, hotels,
residential development (of the type In short, the nodal concept should not conference center/ research institute(s),
envisioned for Lakeside). Similarly be interpreted, or applied rigidly. By produce/ seafood market, restaurants,
commercial uses, albeit limited in some design, the boundaries are both porous ferry landing, transient boat slips, am-
cases, may be appropriate at each node and overlapping. phitheater,
and in the stretches of shoreline in be-
tween nodes. In all cases, recreational
uses and public access to the shoreline
are encouraged.
Waterfront Redevelopment Sub-Plan 32