The Emmet County Board of Commissioners established the Office of Planning and Zoning in August of 1972. Since August 1, 1976, the Planning Department has operated with full time staff.

The Planning Commission in Emmet County was organized to deal with growth pressures that were felt in the mid to late 1960's. This precipitated a research effort that involved inventorying land uses, community facilities, and natural features. Population and economic trends were documented, analyzed, and projected into the future. In 1972, the Planning Commission's mandate to prepare a Comprehensive Future Land Use Plan was fulfilled, and on July 1, 1997, the first comprehensive master plan update was completed and adopted.

• Provides a regional scope to the planning work, promoting coordination among the townships and municipalities (21 units in Emmet County).
• Prepare and maintain a Comprehensive County Land Use Plan and Recreation Plan.
• Fills planning voids between State/Multi-County Planning Agencies and individual municipalities.
• Deals with services and facilities that cross municipal lines (i.e. highways, solid waste, trailways, parks, drains/sewers) and uses of greater than local concern.
• Provide local planning advisory services and staff resources that smaller communities may not have, and be an information center for development and conservation projects (i.e. zoning, land divisions, model ordinance language).
• Promote uniform development standards among several adjacent municipalities. Examples include regulations for towers, resource extraction, outdoor lighting, signs and billboards.
• Assist local units in satisfying grant agency requirements for plans and plan documentation.
• Carry out educational and promotional services for planning in the County and among the local units, including publicizing planning goals and objectives.
• Administer zoning regulations for unincorporated areas that may not have ordinances of their own.
• Review zoning amendments in Township that have their own zoning regulations, serving as the County Zoning Coordinating Committee.
• Set area-wide land use goals, encouraging local units and adjacent counties to coordinate good land use practices, including efforts to conserve natural resources, provide open space, establish public recreational facilities (i.e. parks, trails, recreation centers), and otherwise take a leadership role where such is deemed necessary or desirable to prepare for growing future needs.