Chapter 3

Recreation and Cultural Inventory for Benzie County

This chapter provides a thorough inventory of recreational and cultural entities within Benzie County . The County has extensive State and Federal lands, and many outstanding natural and built resources, with many possible recreational and cultural uses.

The following inventories were conducted following a three-step process. First, the inventories from the 1997 and 2002 Benzie County Recreation Plans were reviewed. Second, local officials from the specific Townships, villages, and cities, as well as certain Benzie County residents were contacted to determine what updates and/or changes were needed for the existing inventories. The final method was to review the feedback from local officials and County residents with the Benzie County Parks and Recreation Commission and Planning Department to ensure the accuracy of the inventories.

Following all of the individual jurisdiction's inventory pages (township, city, village, or National Park) are maps with the exact location of each recreational and cultural entity. There is also a map of the entire county with only major roads, as well as a County Map with all of the State, Federal, and Conservation lands indicated. Inventory page listings are formatted with the name of the entity first, then the organization in charge of the entity in parentheses, followed by a description of the entity. The final part of each listing is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Assessment in italics.

All recreational or cultural entities that are operated by any agency other than private establishments were assessed according to ADA standards. These standards were gathered by consulting ADA Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities; Final Rule, ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities; Architectural Barriers Act, and ADA Accessibility Guidelines; Recreation and Facilities; Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, 2002). The grading scale for accessibility used in this document is the DNR proposed grading scale from DNR Guidelines for the Development of Community Park, Recreation, Open Space and Greenway Plans (MDNR, 2006)

ADA Accessibility Scale

  1. None of the facilities/parks areas meet accessibility guidelines.
  2. Some of the facilities/parks areas meet accessibility guidelines.
  3. Most of the facilities/parks areas meet accessibility guidelines.
  4. The entire facility/park meets accessibility guidelines.
  5. The entire facility/park was developed or renovated using the principles of universal design.

All parks in this inventory are classified as miniature parks, neighborhood parks, or community parks. Their descriptions also include their size, when available, and their estimated service area.

The final section of this chapter is a complete listing of DNR grants that the Benzie County Parks and Recreation Commission has received, and how the grant funds were used.

Maps of each governmental unit with location identification follow this section. (See Parks Inventory)