The Glen Lake Board of Education is exploring the potential of using its 180acre property on Benzonia Trail in Empire Township for affordable housing development.
The proposal, which has been under discussion since spring 2023, aims to address the housing needs in Leelanau County.
In spring 2023, Rick Schanhals, a Glen Lake School Board member since 2019, first inquired with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) about the possibility of using the property for affordable housing, instead of its initial use of forestry and recreation.
The DNR shot first attempts at communication down because the 180-acre land is considered “prime” property, a piece of land over 120-acres, that was given to a school district for a specific use through Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act 451 of 1994.
Schanhals and Sleeping Bear Gateway Council (SBGC) board member Mike Rivard met in Summer 2023 along with SBGC President Bill Witler for a brief meeting with Empire Township Supervisor Bucky Noonan to express what a vision for the property that sits in southern Empire Township.
“This eliminates opportunity to use that property for anything else,” Rivard said.
The property was originally deeded to the Empire Agricultural School in 1941 for $1 for timbering purposes. In 1955, the school districts of Maple City, Glen Lake, and Empire consolidated to form Glen Lake Community Schools. Eventually a meeting was setup with DNR.
“Our greatest need is housing in Leelanau County, but it’s unattainable for families at this point and unattainable for some of our essential workers. We were really trying to solve a problem and I would say that the DNR folks were sympathetic to our needs,” Rivard said.
Rivard then arranged a meeting with State Representatives John DaMoose and Betsy Coffia in November 2023 for another sympathetic meeting.
After doing more research, Rivard found out that 8,000 acres are tied to school districts across the state in “primed” type conditions.
“There’s a lot of opportunity for communities such as ours and counties such as ours,” Rivard said.
Since last year, the small coalition is creating a path to amend parts of Act 451 to allow for a housing development in 2024.
After back-and-forth with DNR about multiple proposals, the DNR proposed a different process where the school district would be able to allow the school to use the 180-acre property for attainable housing.
“(Glen Lake) would have to deed it back to the DNR, and for the application fee of $300 Glen Lake could file for a public use deed on the land that was given back and the DNR would deed it back to the school district with another revisionary clause in it ... Let’s say that clause would last for five years. If you were showing progress towards development (DNR) would allow you to remove that clause and they would go away.” Rivard said. “We aren’t really clear whether we would have an opportunity to use the property. It was a long process, but I think we finally got to the right spot with the DNR and appreciate they’re willing to work with our communities.”
Schanhals and Rivard held a Zoom call with 15 participants, including representatives from the DNR, Coffia, DaMoose, the Traverse City Foundation, Sleeping Bear Gateway Council and more on Sept. 18. During the call, DNR representatives discussed the property and a pathway to obtaining a public use deed, which would allow a nonprofi t organization to develop affordable housing on the site, similar to what is being done in Suttons Bay with Peninsula Housing.
“The Zoom meeting was a surprise. If anything were to happen, I thought it would take years,” Schanhals said.
Under the current zoning proposal, the land would be designated for public service employees for the first five years before being opened to the general public. A policy change would still be required for the project to move forward, representing a significant opportunity for Glen Lake.
According to Schanhals, the goal is to create affordable housing through a community land trust. Residents would buy homes but not own the land, which would remain part of a trust of some form.
“When the land is free, it decreases the price,” he said.
There is still plenty of talk behind the scenes about specific details of a plan, but they are moving in a direction.
Rivard added that a development could take anywhere from five to 10 years to even further depending on a slew of factors.
“It’s gonna take some time,” Rivard said.
SBGC has been at the forefront of creating affordable housing communities in northwest Michigan. They are also skilled at raising and finding federal and private monies to sustain these projects.
“There will be other opportunities in our county. But, this could be a great model for many other communities and in our local area here in northern Michigan to use to address some of the workforce housing and attainable housing issues that are prevalent in our area,” Rivard said.
Schanhals and the school board agreed that they would like to hear a formal presentation from Sleeping Bear Gateway Council before the end of 2024 at Monday’s regular monthly meeting.
Glen Lake Superintendent Jason Misner assured that no general fund money would be used for a project of this kind.
Glen Lake School Board President Cory McNitt stressed that her role is not to be a housing developer and that the board’s primary focus should remain on educational purposes. She stated that the board would need to see more detailed plans before moving forward.
