Public hearing Feb. 5
Dollar General is looking to expand into Leelanau County again.
This time, the proposed location is south of M-22 near the intersection of South Maple City and Cemetery roads in Cleveland Township.
The Cleveland Township Planning Commission is holding a public hearing and a site plan preliminary review for this Dollar General at 6:45 p.m. Feb. 5 at Cleveland Township Hall.
Planning Commission Chairperson Dean Manikas said they will hear a presentation, take public comments, and then get into the “nitty gritty standards the applicant must meet” during a final site plan review.
Dollar General has stores in all 82 other Michigan counties, and the retail chain has tried to open a couple of stores in Leelanau County before. Residents and officials have firmly said “no,” often saying the chain was encroaching on the area’s locally owned businesses and small-town character.
An application to build a Dollar General in Maple City was withdrawn due to public opposition in 2019. Later that same year, Empire Village filibustered a proposed store location on M-22 with a six-month moratorium on all zoning requests.
But Emma Hall, a Dollar General public relations representative, said the company is considering a new location in the central part of the Leelanau Peninsula.
“At this time, we are currently in the ‘due diligence’ phase for a new Dollar General in Maple City. This means we are reviewing the opportunity to add a new store in Leelanau County, but we have not committed to doing so just yet,” Hall said. “Based on our current time- line … we anticipate having a final decision by summer 2025.”
Some nearby property owners shared their thoughts on Dollar General’s proposal with the newspaper.
“I hate it,” said Julie Wichern. “I’m not impressed by those stores. They’re always understaff ed, and there’s garbage all over. I don’t want one that close to my house … I would rather have a small, local business. But even if it was a mom-andpop shop, I still don’t think this is the right location.”
Wichern felt the parcel, which is off M-22 and M-72 and about halfway between Glen Arbor and Traverse City, is not well-placed to attract many customers. Another Cleveland Township resident, Mike Newman, also felt a Dollar General at this intersection would “not do anybody any good.”
“Leelanau County has no fast food or chain restaurants — that’s the beauty of it. And we have enough mom-and-pop stores that are struggling as it is,” Newman said. “A Dollar General does nobody any good. They’re just going to catch flak, and I certainly won’t shop there.”
Newman thinks Dollar General stores have a negative impact due to their business model targeting lower income households, and he said that their managers and staff tend to not be involved in the community like small business owners.
According to CNBC, Dollar General has racked up more than $33 million in fines for safety violations since 2017, with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration labeling it a “severe violator.” They also quote a retail analyst on the low hourly wages paid to the company’s employees.
CNBC says Dollar General’s shares fell more than 40% in 2024. Nonetheless, the store plans to open hundreds more stores in the 2025 fiscal year, with over 20,000 stores in the U.S.
