A hearing has been set next month to determine the fate of a proposed boathouse that would replace one that for well over a century captured the eye of camera buffs perched upon the Lake Leelanau Narrows bridge.
To gain approval, though, the project needs to rewrite recent history. A permit application to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) was denied nearly a year to the date of its appeal hearing. That appeal will be heard remotely on Jan. 14 to 17 by the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules (MOAHR).
“This was part of an agreement that was settled on by the Leelanau Conservancy and the (Lake Leelanau) Lake Association years ago to stop a development in the Narrows” said Tim Cypher, spokesperson for the McGlynn Cypher Trust, which bought the property in 2010.
The contested case hearing will carry a court-like setting, according to Robyn Schmidt of the EGLE Water Resources Division, Cadillac District Office.
“The administrative hearings are like court hearings, held in front of an administrative law judge, with witnesses providing sworn testimony on the record. These hearings are completely different from EGLE’s public hearings that may be scheduled as part of an application review, during which the public has the opportunity to provide comments to EGLE,” Schmidt wrote in an email response.
Questions about virtual attendance may be directed to MOAHR at 517-335-2484.
The McGlynn CypherTrust razed and removed the existing boathouse after being granted a permit in June 2014 by the then-Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to build a 12-foot by 24-foot structure in its place within the Narrows bottomlands. According to documents that are part of a massive file of paperwork, also approved was construction of a 60-foot “dock/ boardwalk and two 12-foot-long by 3-foot wide finger docks, all on pilings.”
The completed project would include five boat slips plus the boathouse. Commercial use would be prohibited, an important distinction from past visions to develop Narrows shoreline that were opposed by the Leelanau Conservancy and Lake Leelanau Lake Association (LLLA).
In 1998 two developers floated a plan to dredge a large area of wetlands south of the removed boathouse to accommodate up to 80 boat slips, which resulted in public outcry and the purchase of 21 acres by the Conservancy three years later.
The conservation groups next fought against a proposed condominium project that included a 250-foot broadside dock with 22 boat slips that did gain DEQ approval. After facing permitting headwinds and a souring housing market, the developer walked away.
Cypher, who was and remains the Leland Township zoning administrator, and his wife, Egan McGlynn, bought the property in 2009. They retained access to the Narrows when selling 2.25 acres and 430 feet of frontage to the Conservancy. The LLLA contributed $100,000 to the $250,000 purchase price, according to the Conservancy website.
Now Cypher and McGlynn, through their trust, are battling EGLE to construct a residential boathouse, dock and slips.
EGLE, in denying the renewal of the original permit, stated in its writings that the boathouse in particular “would have signifi cant adverse effects on the natural resources” in the Narrows. The rejection letter further states that the structure would “adversely impact the public trust by occupying the water for non-water dependent use.” It suggested that an alternative is available through a seasonal boat cover and hoist.
However, the letter continued, a permit request to authorize the dock and boat slips without the boathouse would likely be approved.
The narrative in the permit appeal stated that the Trust purchased the Narrows property “to further protect the water frontage from a proposed condo development.”
Two boathouses have occupied the location, the first built in 1880 as the Leelanau Lumber Mill was amping up production. That structure was damaged by a “wayward steamer” operating in foggy weather, and its replacement built on the same footprint in about 1896.
The McGlynn-Cyper Trust planned to repurpose an old, timber-frame barn purchased in North Carolina for the new structure.
“Unfortunately, due to COVID 19, supply chain issues related to pilings, and contractor availabilities, the boathouse couldn’t be finished by the deadline of May 15, 2022,” the application reads.
