Cleveland Township Supervisor Tim Stein and Zoning Administrator Scott Sheenan started reviewing short-term rental (STR) permit applications Saturday.
The township board passed a zoning ordinance in May limiting the number of STRs in the township to 36, and this goes into effect Jan. 1.
At the township board’s Dec. 10 regular meeting, Stein said they’ve received 20 STR permit applications so far. They will start sending out permits to applicants who properly completed the form, which can be downloaded on leelanau.gov/ clevelandtwpans.asp?rid=13.
The board passed this ordinance to crack down on STRs in the township’s agriculturally and residentially zoned districts, by limiting the number of rentals in the R1, R2, R3, and agriculture districts, and requiring property owners to pay a $35 annual fee for permitting.
At Cleveland Township’s annual meeting earlier this year, Stein said there are 96 STRs in Cleveland Township, and 32 of them are in residentially or agriculturally zoned districts. The limited number of permits allowed under the new ordinance will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to applicants who meet the requirements on the form.
The township board also approved their 2025 meeting schedule, which says that they will continue their regular meetings on the second Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m.
During open forum public comment, Gwenne Allgaier, the county commissioner who represents the district including Cleveland Township, stated she was disappointed that Segment 9 of the Sleeping Bear Dunes Heritage Trail was put on hold.
Allgaier said that the county will now have to pay for a “very expensive” culvert replacement near Little Traverse Lake, the costs of which would have been covered by National Park Service. She also claimed that more trees will be lost due to the rising lake levels than would have been cut down to make way for the trail extension.
