Suttons Bay athletes may spend their last season on the current softball, baseball and soccer fields.
The Suttons Bay School Board of Education voted Tuesday night to approve a purchase agreement with Peninsula Housing for the sale of 9.5 acres on the south end of the district property along Herman Road.
Peninsula Housing is a non-profit corporation engaged in the business of providing affordable housing as a community land trust. Retired winemaker Larry Mawby of Suttons Bay heads the non-profit.
“Dating back to 2020, the district has been engaged in a years-long process to rightsize and modernize our campus,” Suttons Bay Superintendent Casey Petz stated in a written response to questions fromtheEnterprise. “Aspartof the voter approved 2024 bond issue, the district is working to move several of the fields (soccer, softball, and Little League fields along Herman Road) to more central locations on campus.”
Petz explained that the Board of Education identified the need to “offline” and potentially sell a portion of the campus at some point in the future.
Given this, the board authorized Petz in December 2024 to enter into an agreement for the potential sale of the property.
The district has completed a survey of the 9.5-acre site; ordered an appraisal of the parcel; conferred with legal counsel and potential buyers; and responded to a number of requests for information from the community.
“At this time, we are not in a position to talk about sales price because there is no signed purchase agreement in place,” Petz said.
Peninsula Housing proposes to build 40 units, a mix of rental and owneroccupied units, on a 9.5-acre. In addition, the non-profit accepted a oneacre piece of property with an unoccupied trailer. This property, owned Sharon Pigg, was deeded over to Peninsula Housing.
Tuesday morning, both properties were on the agenda of the county Brownfield Redevelopment Authority which agreed to work with Peninsula Housing on environmental assessments for our project on Herman Road in the township, as well as on the Suttons Bay School property. The county Land Bank has authorized a letter of intent to work with the non-profit on the school property.
Brownfield funds are available to complete environmental assessments on properties. The property includes a farmhouse that is likely to contain asbestos and lead as well as residual pesticide contamination on the property which were fruit orchards from roughly 1938 to the late 1970s.
As proposed, the first phase of the project will include 16 units with work beginning in 2026. Completion of the 24 remaining units is expected to be completed in 2028.
The larger parcel has a State Equalized Value of just over $104,000. The smaller property has an SEV of just over $8,000.
“Additional funds available to the district are certainly one benefit from a potential sale, but the much more important issue is right-sizing and modernizing our campus to our current and future needs,” Petz said. “Maintaining acres of additional/ surplus fields, spaces, building, and the associate infrastructure to keep everything in a usable and sustainable state is an issue the district must address in order for us to manage our district’s human and financial resources responsibly.”
