The Glen Lake Board of Education last week quashed a proposal to convert a portion of acreage on Co. Rd. 675 for affordable housing last week.
And as much as we acknowledge the need for housing county wide, we’re thinking it would have gone well beyond what the Department of Natural Resources intended when it was given to the school district.
But in a county that starves for several hundred more homes, an unconventional route could be needed to even make a dent in the local economic issue.
Clearly, Glen Lake went in over its head, at least for the moment, to float the idea of addressing the issue. But we still applaud for the effort.
In spring 2023, Rick Schanhals, school board trustee since 2019, first inquired with the Department of Natural Resources about the possibility of using the property for affordable housing, instead of its initial use of forestry and recreation.
The DNR shot down the first attempts at communication because the 180-acre land on Benzonia Trail in Empire Township is considered “prime” property, a piece of land over 120 acres that was given to the school district for a specific use through the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act 451. The property was originally deeded to the Empire Agricultural School in 1941 for $1 for timbering purposes. In 1955, school districts of Maple City, glen Lake and Empire consolidated to form glen Lake community Schools.
The quiet conversations over at least a year caught the attention of state representative Betsy Coffia and John DaMoose that would have led to a lobbying effort to change the use of land at a state level.
As discussed the property would have been used for government employees for the first five years then the general public would be let in.
We questioned the proposal to limit the housing to government employees because the majority of affordable housing needed isn’t for governmental positions.
We appreciate the schools commitment to education, but with Leelanau’s ever growing protected lands, we are left wondering if there is a reasonable path for any relief when it comes to affordable housing without taking a look at the books.
There’s no solution on the horizon to drastically address the housing issue as Leelanau heads into 2025.
