Each year at this time the Enterprise staff reviews the previous year’s top stories, with headlines that are likely to continue into the new year.
Our papers are filled with stories of life in Leelanau — from government to heart-warming stories of our People of the Peninsula.
The following is a list of our top 10 story lines of 2025.
1.) M-22/M-72
A summer of backups was had for Leelanau motorists traveling either way throughout 2025 as the corner of M-72/M-22 was reconstructed, along with a new two-laned roundabout.
M-72 was closed near Greilickville Jan. 13, weather permitting, to prepare for a roundabout installation at the M-22 intersection in spring 2025. Traffic going east and west was detoured on county roads and Traverse City streets throughout the year.
The $25.8 million project to install a roundabout and rebuild 2.2 miles of road led to a summer of backups for Leelanau motorists. This year will be telling, if the roundabout will give motorists rewards instead of headaches.
The project also included Cherry Bend Road traffic signal upgrades, drainage improvements, and replacing sidewalks and non-motorized paths.
A ribbon-cutting was held in early November as the project was completed.
2.) Housing
It’s become more difficult to live in Leelanau. All you need to do is look at real estate sales. In 2025, home prices were generally in the high $500k to $700k+ range, with some reports showing medians around $678,000 (Oct 2025), around $560,000-$585,000 (Aug 2025).
While awareness about the lack of attainable housing has grown in the past year.
Habitat for Humanity Grand Traverse have successfully added several homes near the intersection of M-72 and Bugai Road. The Northport community has gone all out with workshops focusing on attainable housing.
A lack of housing has driven local fire/rescue groups and the Sheriff’s Office to seek recruits from downstate.
Many county business operate with employees “imported” from outside the county.
3.) Dyer embattled
County administrator Jim Dyer began his new position in April and some would argue he was in the hot seat from the start. Dyer was called out for his candidacy for the Cherryland Electric Cooperative and others have called raised questions about what many saw as a “conflict of issue” with his involvement on the board of Peninsula Housing while also serving on the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. These issues prompted commissioners to hold a four-month performance review, after which a vote of confidence was approved by board members.
4.) Conservancy buys Sugar Loaf
The Leelanau Conservancy ended the decades-long saga by purchasing the former site of the Sugar Loaf Resort. The 285acre property will be donated to the Conservancy and protected forever after reached an agreement with SBV 45 LLC.
The Conservancy raised the $8 million to secure the purchase.
‘We continue to welcome donations for the long-term care of Sugar Loaf. We are grateful to the owner and for the community’s outpouring of support to bring Sugar Loaf back to the community,” Conservancy Executive Director Tom Nelson said. “We hope to complete the site planning process with governmental agencies in the next few months and anticipate taking ownership in the first or second quarter of 2026.”
The target date for the ownership transfer is spring 2026.
5.) Cherry harvest dismal
Leelanau County reported one of the smallest crops in recent memory during 2025.
“Crop variable south of Suttons Bay is lighter, and the crop will most likely be heavier north of Suttons Bay. There is going to be a lot of variability,” Cherry Marketing Institute Chairwoman Emily Miezio said. Roughly 30 million pounds of cherries are expected to be harvested in Leelanau County this year, compared to over 100 million last year. In contrast, 47 million are expected in westcentral Michigan and another 15 million across the state.
Greg Williams of Williams Leelanau Orchards says he’s expecting about 10% of his crop to come in this year after spring frost wreaked havoc across the peninsula during the spring.
Despite the dismal growing season, Cherry Republic, based in Empire, opened a new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the Village of Empire that was completed in October.
6.) Blue Bird/Distillery/ N.J’s opens back up
The fall saw the revival of a pair of iconic Leelanau restaurants and distillery as the Bluebird in L eland and Northern Latitudes Distillery. Owner Skip Telgard reports that business has been busy and “customers have been enthusiastic.
Telgard said that they expect to be open most of winter with the option of taking a break for an extended period in the new year.
Telgard is focused on bringing some of the Blue Bird classics to the menu, including fresh Lake Michigan fish; walleye, whitefish, and perch. Pizza, sandwiches, and more are on the menu from the shores of Leland River.
Northern Latitudes in Lake Leelanau opened after building a new distillery, only a few hundred yards from its previous location.
Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 square feet will be the production facility. The new distillery has four times the capacity to make spirits as its former location.
NLD owners Mark and Mandy Moseler are focused on how the business is going to function as NLD goes through quarter four of 2025 and into the 2026 summer season.
Meanwhile, just down M-204, N.J.’s Grocery in Lake Leelanau returned to business last month after a June fire damaged the store.
7.) Dollar General tries again
Yet another attempt was made by Dollar General to enter Leelanau County — this time in Cleveland Township.
Dollar General has stores in all 82 counties in the state — except Leelanau County — and the retail chain has tried to open a couple of stores in Leelanau County before.
Residents and officials have said “no” in the past, often saying the chain was encroaching on the area’s locally-owned businesses and small-town character.
A zoning amendment limiting lot coverage in the Business 1 and Business II districts, functionally zoning out these stores in Cleveland Township.
8.) NPS layoffs trigger protest; no ferry to N. Manitou; Overlook removed
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was a busy place in the 2025 calendar year. More than 60 people gathered at the Sleeping Bear Dunes Phillip A. Hart Visitor Center to protest employee layoffs to the National Park Service (NPS). The Manitou Island Transit was relegated to South Manitou for the second straight season — and fourth of six seasons. Manitou Island Transit (MIT) will not provide ferry service to North Manitou Island because the permanent National Park Service built dock is clogged with sand.
The bottomlands around the dock will be dredged — prior to its anticipated removal in 2026 and after a new dock is built.
Meanwhile, a wooden viewing platform at Overlook 9 along Pierce Stocking Drive was removed following the dune severing its ties with the structure.
The popular lookout area via social media, describing how over the winter, strong winds undercut the sand at the base of the platform and that the western pilings no longer touched solid ground. Due to the loss of structural integrity and imminent safety concern, park staff removed the platform completely. The park service said that when the structure was originally built, it was placed a considerable distance from the edge of the dune face, but the dune has now moved further east than the platform location.
9.) Communications
It was an interesting year in as it comes down to communications.
Leelanau County officially sent the final check to Point Broadband, concluding a nearly $5 million grant for a larger capital project ($16.4 million) that has given 25% of all Leelanau residents access to high-speed internet that was once left in the dust.
Meanwhile, a proposal to improve emergency services communications in Leelanau Township, by constructing a tower on Kitchen Road, went no where with the Leelanau Township Planning Commission, citing concerns of nearby residents about the environmental impact and a drop in property values. The most recent proposal, to construct a communications tower at Braman Hill, is planned.
News that is sure to grab some headlines in 2026.
10.) Religious groups followings
A public hearing for the application of a special use permit to operate a Youth for Christ (YFC) program club center in Leland was canceled last month due to room capacity. The public hearing, typically held at Leland Township Library’s Munnecke of 100. Theproposalof opening a YFC club center in downtown Leland and the outreach approach Micah and Kya Cramer have taken with youth in the past year has been a contentious topic among residents, and in particular, parents. The hearing will continue Jan. 7 at 5 p.m. Venue: Northport Performing Act Center.
Earlier this year, the state Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation into Twin Flames Universe, an organization that claims to help followers find “harmonious union” with soul mates, or “twin flames,” through methods presented via costly online coaching and classes. Although the organization states that its community is founded on “love and mutual respect,” ex-members featured in documentaries like “Escaping Twin Flames” say otherwise. The organization, its operators, Jeff and Shaleia Divine, Christine and Jason Emerick, is based in Leelanau County, but their story went viral after the NETFLIX documentary began streaming.
