Glen Lake Community Schools will be holding an informational meeting Monday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. regarding the schools 180-acre forested property.
Ellie Johnson, Leelanau Conservation District forester, will be at the meeting to present educational information, regarding the property.
Matt Heiman, director of natural land protection with the Leelanau Conservancy, will also be at the meeting to discuss the properties ecological significance and biological diversity. There will be a public comment session at the beginning and end of the meeting.
In spring 2023, Glen Lake board member Rick Shanhals approached the DNR and Sleeping Bear Gateway Council (SBGC) regarding an idea about affordable housing on the property. Superintendent Jason Misner and even state representatives Betsy Coffia and John DaMoose had brief conversations last year. Nevertheless, Glen Lake shot the proposal down in December 2024, but that isn’t stopping SBGC from trying to put up an affordable housing community that would only be available to public employees for the first four years before opening to private individuals.
The property located on the east side of Benzonia Trail is just north of M-72.
Initially, SBGC had a conceptual plan, even though the school board didn’t vote on it. The current proposal has upwards of 180 housing units on the property with zero infrastructure that currently exists. The forest property was gifted to the school in 1931 under the Municipal School Forest Act.
SBGC may finally get to speak in front of the entire Glen Lake school board, instead of just one or two members of its body. At least the opportunity presents itself in the form of public comment Monday.
Late in January, SBGC presented this plan to Empire Township to transform some of the 180-acre forest. The presentation came as a surprise to Glen Lake School Board president Cory McNitt because Glen Lake decided not to hear any plans from SBGC in December.
The proposed housing complex, that the school doesn’t support, would only be available to public employees for the first four years. After that, supposedly it would be opened up to private individuals.
Several goals of SBGC include providing permanent affordability (accessible approaches to home equity) to grow and maintain a permanent workforce community, enabling development on rural land not served by municipal infrastructure, and upholding values of environmental sustainability and responsible land stewardship in design, construction, and maintenance.
