Brad Lutz of Omena has signed an option to purchase Sugar Loaf Resort from Kate Wickstrom.

Lutz told the Enterprise just before press time on Wednesday that Wickstrom had signed the agreement early this week.

Terms of the pending sale were not disclosed, but the news was being hailed in the county.

The resort has been closed for skiing since March 2000. Lutz offered no timetable for reopening the resort, but made it clear that he expects the return of skiing at Sugar Loaf to be “a central focus” of his efforts. The condition of ski lifts and other facilities at Sugar Loaf Resort is such that no skiing will be possible there this ski season.

“Of course, we want skiing to return,” Lutz said. “Sugar Loaf has some of the best runs anywhere in the Midwest.”

But, Lutz added, he is “going into this deal with some fear and trepidation” and is well aware that he may be facing many obstacles.

“I’ve heard people in Leelanau County say they’ll believe it when they see it when it comes to Sugar Loaf,” Lutz said. “Actually, that’s just about the right attitude to have in this case. I’m enthusiastic, I’m local, and I believe in Leelanau County – but I have no illusions. This will not be simple or easy.”

Wickstrom has owned Sugar Loaf Resort since March 2005 when she purchased it from from a Florida-based corporation known as SL 2002. Corporate documents indicate that SL 2002 was controlled by the wife of Remo Polselli, the head of a company that formerly owned Sugar Loaf, the Pacific XIX Corporation. Polselli was spending time in a federal penitentary on a tax evasion conviction in connection with a downstate Michigan property he owned when ownership transferred from Pacific XIX to SL 2002.

After she purchased Sugar Loaf, Wickstrom unveiled plans to turn the resort into a “board sports mecca” including snowboarding and skateboarding – but never followed through.

In July 2007, Wickstrom was notified by the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department that the lodge at Sugar Loaf Resort had been declared “unfit for human habitation” because it had no sewer service. Wickstrom and the previous owners of Sugar Loaf Resort had long been at odds with owners of a private wastewater treatment plant that provides sewer service for the resort and nearby residential neighborhoods, the Sugar Loaf Service Company.

Wickstrom and the Sugar Loaf Service Company last year were embroiled in a lawsuit over Wickstrom’s alleged non-payment of a sewer bill which was settled on Dec. 12, 2007.

Settlement of the case last month is believed to have helped pave the way for Wickstrom to sign an agreement to sell the resort to Lutz this month.

The owners of Sugar Loaf Service Company, Brian Sculthorp of Florida and Ed Fleis of Leelanau County, also own the Sleeping Bear Golf Course adjacent to Sugar Loaf Resort, and last year were forced to relinquish ownership of the nearby King’s Challenge Golf Course to a corporation that formerly owned the resort, both golf courses and the sewage treatment plant. The split-up of those elements in 1997 when Polselli purchased the resort further complicated efforts to make the resort economically viable.

“I’ll be willing to work with anyone to make this happen,” Lutz told the Enterprise. In addition to working with private investors, Lutz said he hoped to work with Leelanau County’s Economic Development Corporation and the county’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to bring Sugar Loaf Resort back to life.

Sugar Loaf Resort is located in Cleveland Township’s “recreation district.” Township trustee and Planning Commission member Cindy Shimek was among those who last year labored on a zoning ordinance amendment at Wickstrom’s request that was designed to streamline approval of Wickstrom’s plans to revive the resort. Wickstrom’s plans were never submitted for approval, however.

“I’m thrilled for Mr. Lutz and the possibilities for Sugar Loaf and our township,” Shimek said. “If there is anything we can do as a community to help, I know there are many people who would be pleased to do so.”

Shimek said she wishes Lutz “good luck,” but added that she wished the same for Wickstrom.

Andrew MacFarlane of Leland offered only one initial comment upon learning that Lutz was buying Sugar Loaf Resort from Wickstrom: “Yee-Hah!”

The owner of “leelanau.com” which for years hosted an online discussion forum about Sugar Loaf, MacFarlane said he was hopeful that Lutz would succeed.

“The impact of not having Sugar Loaf open here in the wintertime has just been crushing for Leelanau County,” MacFarlane said. “He sure has a lot of hard work ahead, but I know there are a lot of people willing to lend a hand.”