Throughout most of its history, the village of Lake Isabella, Michigan (1,100), had to depend on the county and the two townships in which the village was located for services. It was so difficult to coordinate road projects with the two townships that most of the community’s roads were unpaved and maintenance was limited. In addition, village property was subject to two different zoning standards, two different assessors, and two different master plans. In the mid-1990s, several residents decided to incorporate Lake Isabella into a home rule village.