While a decision of a controversial special land use permit application to operate a Youth for Christ (YFC) club center in downtown Leland has yet to be made, legal counsel for the applicant, Jim VanSteenhouse of Apollos Properties, has pushed back via another avenue with Leland Township.
Leland Township’s Board of Review and assessor Julie Krombeen received a letter dated March 10 from the applicant’s attorney, Timothy White of the Parker Harvey law firm, inquiring about the revocation of the tax-exemption status of Fishtown Preservation Society (FPS). White outlines at the beginning of his letter that it had come to their attention that the township previously granted FPS property tax exemptions “for a number of parcels on the basis that FPS is a charitable institution and the properties are owned and occupied by FPS solely for the organization’s charitable purpose.”
“We believe that FPS may have, perhaps unintentionally, misled the assessor and township when it initially applied for its property tax exemption. And FPS has certainly failed to advise the assessor as its expanding commercial and economic development activity on its tax-exempt parcels,” part of the letter from White to the township’s board of review stated. “It is important to our client that all parties are subjected to the same standards with respect to property taxation.”
