Welcome to the Official Website of Van Buren County

Van Buren County 219 E. Paw Paw St. Suite 201 Paw Paw, MI. The small visitor center at the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. Van Buren has two interesting presidential firsts that are related to his childhood. First, he was the first president to be born a citizen of the United States. The seven before him were all born while the United States was still a British colony and thus born British.

.......''A Great Place to Grow'

.......Van Buren County is located on the beautiful rolling hills of the Cumberland Plateau. The County was established on January 24, 1840 and was named for the eighth President of the United States, Martin Van Buren. We are the proud home of Fall Creek Falls State Park the largest and most visited state park in Tennessee with over one million visitors yearly.

.......It is the mission of Van Buren County Mayor Greg Wilson to improve the quality of life for those who live in and visit our beautiful county. We strive to provide for the needs of all our citizens and visitors with quality public service and a strong commitment to economic development. We take pride in our quality of life, quality education, our abundant natural resources and development of our community.

.......We invite you to spend a few days with us and see for yourself the majestic mountain views, abundance of wildlife and old grow forest. Once you've seen it, we won't be surprised if you decide to take advantage of the peaceful tranquility on our beautiful mountain hideaway or better yet, settle into an inviting business environment, what a great place to do business! Van Buren County has so much to offer and we want to share it with you. Come see us!

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Site Plan Development Review

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Site Plan Review

The Drain Office is required by The Land Division Act No. 288 of 1967 to review site plans for all county established plats for proper storm water management. However, plat developments are becoming a rarity and most developments are established under Condominium Act, Public Act 59 of 1978 in which the Drain Commissioner receives a “Notice of Intent” to establish but is not required under state law to review the site plans. If a municipality chooses to have the Drain Office review a Site Condo, Planned Unit Development, or other site plans then they must adopt, by resolution the Drain Office’s “Site Development Rules”. This offers municipalities the ability to have an outside agency review site plans for proper storm water management. Additionally, municipalities that don’t have planning or zoning can adopt the rules in order to ensure proper plan design for storm water management when municipal regulations do not apply or exist.
In 2010 the Drain Office incorporated Low Impact Design, LID standards in its stormwater design criteria. Low impact development encourages green development through rain gardens, bio-swales, porous pavement, and other environmental friendly practices. LID standards are becoming common practice in communities throughout Michigan. The state recently developed LID guidelines that will be used in developing the drain office standards.
In addition, the Site Development Rules were update in 2012 to conform with new standards, more user friendly, a application process, and a new 'green calculator'. In order for the Drain Office to review site plans the following must be submitted: application, two copies of the site plan, storm/design calculations, and review fee.

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