Attainable housing: another view from Leelanau’s porch
By Jon Lanphier, President-elect, Sleeping Bear Gateways Council
Op-ed for the Sun
In the July 30 issue of the Glen Arbor Sun, Cameron Krepps wrote a thoughtful and heartfelt lament about the lack of affordable housing for hard-working young trades people like him who grew up locally (Empire), work here to support themselves and their families, but who cannot afford to rent or own a home in Leelanau County. His op-ed pointed out many reasons for this problem, virtually all market driven, and it carried some bitterness towards the reality of a market that because of its beauty, location, size and history has become a haven for retirement homes, second homes and seasonal rentals while excluding affordable year-round rental properties or attainable homes for people in the local workforce. Cameron identified the problem, but he failed to suggest a solution. The local volunteers that makeup the Sleeping Bear Gateways Council (SBGC) believe that solutions do exist and that working together as a community we can provide local housing for people like Cameron.
Cameron’s frustrations are not unique to Leelanau County and those in its workforce who cannot find housing in the community where they work. The problem exists in many communities nationwide that have developed a tourist-based economy in areas where geography or other constraints make land for attainable housing scarce. What sets Leelanau County apart, to some degree, is the fact that the county is a peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides, and that it has a significant portion of its land in a National Park. That means this problem, which is very real, must be addressed by the creative use of the land within the borders of the County.
The lack of attainable housing is a nation-wide problem, caused by growth in demand that far exceeds the growth in supply over the past 20 years. This market imbalance has caused inflation in housing prices that greatly exceed the growth in real wages. This problem is particularly acute in Leelanau County because of the various factors that Cameron points out. However, SBGC, along with the Leelanau Housing Collaborative and its eight member organizations, do not believe this problem to be without a solution. We believe that housing can be built in Leelanau County, both in the rental and ownership markets, that can provide the type of stability and community that Cameron and others in the local workforce deserve.
The keys in today’s world for the creation of attainable housing are efficient land use, smaller lots, smaller housing units and a reduction in the cost of land on which the housing is built. Market forces alone have not and will not address these issues. Nationwide many communities have addressed the problem through governmental intervention or subsidies. That is not what SBGC or the Leelanau Housing Collaborative are proposing. While Collaborative members in a number of local communities in Leelanau County have begun to address this housing shortage by purchasing and/or redeveloping small parcels for single- or two-family homes, the need for attainable ownership units over the next five years far exceeds what these initiatives can achieve. SBGC believes that while these initiatives are important, a bolder approach is also needed to close the attainable housing gap.
Peninsula Housing in Suttons Bay, a member of the Housing Collaborative, is launching such a project to ultimately build 6 single family three-bedroom homes, 12 duplex units containing 1-2 bedrooms while also working with Homestretch, another Housing Collaborative member, to develop 8 townhouse rental apartments on adjacent properties in Suttons Bay. That is 38 new units being built specifically to be rented or purchased based upon current local criteria measuring affordability. Important to this project is that the land is owned by a Community Land Trust (CLT) which purchased the property without the use of public funds. Since the CLT owns the land on which the housing is being built, it can control how the housing is used:
- restricting seasonal rentals
- requiring usage as a primary residence
- denying purchase as a second home
- placing restrictions upon resale pricing to maintain attainable housing values
- ensuring these rules are enforced for a period of 99 years, the term of CLT ownership as permitted by law
CLT ownership of the land both reduces the cost of initial home ownership and ensures that housing remains attainable for future owners when sold.
SBGC is proposing a similar approach in southwest Leelanau County. It has raised funds through private donations to purchase land through a CLT. Since land costs and infrastructure development constitute a substantial cost of providing housing, eliminating these costs through CLT ownership will reduce the cost to the homeowner or renter. The CLT will then work with developers who specialize in building attainable housing, to design and build communities that include single family, duplex and rental units to most efficiently use the land, carefully prioritizing land usage for both housing and open space on the property. This approach further reduces costs by increasing the efficiency of infrastructure requirements (roads, wells and septic fields) while also creating a community setting that people will find desirable. SBGC believes this approach presents the best option for both building and maintaining attainable workforce housing for generations to come.
What does it take to achieve this solution?
Money: SBGC has raised $650,000 to purchase the land for its initial projects through donations from both year-round and seasonal residents, local people who care about this problem and are willing provide resources to achieve solutions.
Land: For a project to be affordable and achieve our goals, the land must be both affordable and large enough to achieve the scale that combines single family, duplex and other rental units while also providing open space for community activities. This will require sellers who recognize the problem, share our vision and want to work with SBGC towards the creation of truly unique housing communities that are consistent with the character of the community in which it is built.
Zoning Modifications: The townships of Leelanau County need to recognize that current zoning laws are not protecting the agricultural nature of Leelanau County. Instead, they are ensuring that agricultural land zoned in 3- or 5-acre plots will continue to attract only to people with money who can afford to build a $700,000 retirement home, second home or seasonal rental property on land that sells for $25,000+ per acre. Local zoning laws need to reflect the need for higher density in certain areas of our communities so that CLTs can purchase or lease sufficient property for the development of attainable housing communities. This is how we begin to respond to the lament that Cameron, and so many other people upon whom our community depend, are expressing.
While what SBGC and other Housing Collaborative members are suggesting may not be the total answer to the attainable housing crisis, this approach will go along way towards ensuring that the teachers, first responders, healthcare workers, hospitality workers, tradespeople, and all others we rely upon to keep our community functioning in the manner we have come to enjoy, can also be our neighbors and a truly integral part of our community.
If you have opinions about this issue, please take the Housing Matters in Leelanau Survey at LeelanauHousingCollaborative.org.
