We were heartened to learn last week that a local couple, whose families have lived in the county for generations, now has a place to call home in Northport.
Peninsula Housing, a non-profit organization aimed at making homes more affordable on the Leelanau Peninsula, along with donors, bridge lenders and Leelanau Township Community Foundation did just that for Jon and Kelly Kehl.
The Kehls were displaced during COVID-19, forced to relocate to Traverse City. However, a lack of affordable housing had made it impossible for them to return home.
Peninsula Housing, a community land trust, uses a ground-lease model to keep homes affordable for generations. With this model, ownership of the land and home are separated, making purchasing the home more achieveable for people making the area median income or lower.
Peninsula Housing owns the land in perpetuity and sells the home at a reduced cost to qualified buyers with a ground lease. The ground lease limits the amount the home can be resold for, keeping it afforable for future homeowners. Forever.
The model is just one method being implemented to improve housing opportunities.
Over the holidays, families moved into eight units at Vineyard View apartments between Suttons Bay and Lake Leelanau.
There has also been progress on the New Waves Community, a 14-home development in Elmwood Township.
This is good news. According to Housing North, a regional non-profit organized to help communities create housing solutions, Leelanau County needs roughly 1,600 units to fulfill its housing needs for locals and seasonal workers.
Make no mistake, the lack of affordable housing is impacting local commerce. Employers find it difficult, if not impossible, to find workers who can afford to live in the county.
This is across-the-board — from restaurant servers to firemen, teachers and corrections officers.
We are thrilled with what we hope is a growing momentum in addressing local housing needs.
The handful of new residential opportunities is just a start. Much more is needed. Paraphrasing an old saying, “It takes a village.. to grow a village.” It will take the efforts of many to make a dent in the needed housing units. Changes are needed in zoning laws and infrastructure, more developable land needs to be made available, and investment in building additional affordable housing units must be made. Equally important will be acceptance of additional housing by county residents and governments.
