(1) A Vision for Rural Lands in the Western Straits Regional Planning Area. We envision the rural lands in the western half of the Straits planning area as a scenic patchwork of large open fields and woodlots interspersed with rural homesteads and serviced by neighborhood/tourist commercial clusters. Neighborhood/tourist commercial clusters are located at their present positions along the highway and have blended into the rural environment through the application of landscaping standards and rural design guidelines which emphasize the preservation of rural views. Recreational uses which promote open space values are encouraged to locate in rural areas along major highways to improve scenic vistas and buffer residential uses.

(2) The western portion of the Straits area has only small areas which can be developed for rural land uses and these are interspersed with large areas in commercial forest production. These circumstances allow retention of rural character even under conventional development scenarios. The Community Council’s strategy for preserving rural character has focused on preserving productive rural land uses, maintaining a diversity of lot sizes and concentrating rural commercial enterprises at existing locations along highways.