How much is a 50-foot lot on the Leland River worth?
Gene Kelly and Jim Varley would like to know.

At the Leland Township Board meeting Monday, Kelly updated the board on his and Varley’s ongoing effort to redevelop the courthouse property in Leland. Kelly said changes will be made to the conceptual plan the pair have been showing to township and county government officials since spring.

Of chief concern to Leland Township is the 50-foot lot it owns on the Leland River.

Varley-Kelly Properties has an agreement in place to pay $2.4 million for the four-acre courthouse property and some surrounding property. Kelly said Monday the township needs to tell him and Varley know how much it wants for the small parcel.

The board authorized supervisor Harry Larkin to hire a commercial property appraisal firm to determine the value of the riverfront parcel. Kelly said he will also have the parcel appraised.

Kelly said county Road Commission engineer James C. Johnson is requiring a drainage easement originally planned for the north property boundary to be relocated to the south end of the property.

“That’s mandatory, we’re going to have to put the drainage easement there because that is where all the water runoff flows to,” he said.

Another change involves how many single-family lots will be available with a riverfront parcel. Kelly said he and Varley have an initial agreement with a potential buyer for Lot 2 who wants to keep the historic county jail at the location. With the current lot layout, the historic jail sits too close to the south boundary line, between Lots 2 and 3. To alleviate the situation, Kelly said he and Varley are considering making Lots 1-3 wider and eliminating Lot 4.

“An interest was expressed by the neighborhood that they would like the historic jail to remain where it is. We have a buyer who is willing to do that, but we have to redraw the lot lines to meet the setback requirements,” he said. Varley and Kelly will also have to relocate an existing overhead electric line as part of the proposed project. Kelly said most likely they will locate the power line over the drainage easement.

Kelly said he also needs to know where the Leland Township Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department would prefer to relocate an existing standpipe along the Leland River. The pipe’s current location is adjacent to one of the riverfront parcels that will be part of Lots 1-3.

John VanRaalte, chief of the Leland Fire Department, said the only requirements for the standpipe is there has to be an access wide enough for a fire truck to back up to the pipe, and that the pipe has to be located along the shore in a spot deep enough to draw water.

With the proposed changes, Kelly said drawings he and Varley have been showing will be substantially different than those submitted for a special land use permit to the Leland Township Planning Commission sometime in the coming months.

In other business, the board:

• Unanimously approved the appointments of Lucy Gits Schaub and John Fitzpatrick to the township Library Board. Larkin said Schaub and Fitzpatrick will replace two current members, George Basta Jr. and Shelley Watkins, who declined reappointment. Schaub and Fitzpatrick will serve three-year terms that expire in November 2010.

• Unanimously approved Thomas Aemmer to serve a term on the township Board of Review. The term expires January 2009.

• Unanimously adopted a resolution of support for the township fire and rescue department’s application for 2 percent gaming fund grant to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Department member Jeff Friedenstab said the unit is applying for funds to pay for the replacement of water rescue suits and other miscellaneous equipment.

• Unanimously approved paying the $170 registration fee for attorney Mardi Black to attend a conference on planning issues. The township has hired Black to provide legal opinions on planning matters in the past.

• Unanimously approved two zoning issues. The first was a requested rezoning 2.5 acres owned by Nancy Gard from Agricultural Conservation to Medium-Density Lakeshore Residential (R-1A). The board tabled the request at its October meeting because board members didn’t have enough time to review the rezoning request documents prior to the start of the meeting. The rezoning will allow Warren Watkins to purchase the property, which is currently part of a large parcel that will be preserved in a private conservation easement, and build a house.

The board also approved amending Article 17 of the township Zoning Ordinance. The proposed changes would allow more options for redeveloping the properties in the township than existing under the current zoning rules.