Crystal River preserved: Glen Arbor business owners buy marina parcels, prevent major housing development

Photo by Angela Doster DeWitt

By Jacob Wheeler

Sun editor

Three prominent Glen Arbor business owners have purchased separate parcels next to the Crystal Harbor Marina, where Fisher Lake (at the north end of Big Glen Lake) feeds into the Crystal River. In doing so, they’ll make sure the fragile ecosystem isn’t turned into a major housing development or resort.

Those business owners are Ranae and Bob Ihme, who own Leelanau Vacation Rentals & LVR Realty and Glen Arbor Outdoor, the Aylsworth family who owns Glen Craft Marina, and Brad Anderson who owns Anderson’s Market. They purchased the three parcels from marina owner Don Lewis in mid-September of last year.

In early January 2020, Conor McCahill, whose family owns On the Narrows Marina, unveiled a prospective plan to the Glen Arbor Planning Commission to buy the eight-acre marina from Lewis, add boat slips, and build 14 high-end homes along the waterfront where Fisher Lake meets the Crystal River, and 12 “workforce housing” units behind them.

Opposition among the crowd that packed the Township Hall on January 2, 2020, was fierce, and nearly unanimous. Local residents spoke out against the development, its impact on parking, and water quality. Rob Karner, watershed biologist for the Glen Lake Association and a Crystal River homeowner, worried how increased activity on Fisher Lake would impact the river. “Whatever happens on Fisher Lake comes by my house,” Karner said.

But McCahill never submitted a formal development proposal to the Planning Commission, and the purchase option expired. Many in Glen Arbor breathed a sigh of relief.

Up stepped the Ihmes, Aylsworths and Brad Anderson to purchase the vacant land from Lewis, who kept the decades-old, classic wooden marina, which hasn’t functioned as a full-service marina since the 1980s.

“Our neighborhood got together, we were concerned about it,” said Ranae Ihme, who owns a home across from the marina. “Everyone discussed how (a development there) would negatively impact our neighborhood. … We don’t want to look at a large-scale condominium project across the lake.”

Ranae and Bob Ihme purchased the middle parcel (Parcel B, 69,443 square feet: see above photo) from Lewis. They have no immediate plans to do anything with the property, which juts south into where Fisher Lake feeds the Crystal River.

“We want to keep the character. We like seeing it undeveloped,” said Ranae Ihme. “It’s a sandbar, and families know to come there and play.” She and Bob view the property as an exquisite place to build a house.

The Aylsworth family, which owns Glen Craft Marina, purchased the western parcel (Parcel A, 53,242 square feet: see above photo), a commercially zoned lot that includes six boat slips and a ramp.

“The opportunity presented itself, and it made sense for our business,” said GT Aylsworth. “We’ll use that ramp a lot.”

Aylsworth said that Glen Craft Marina will also use the parcel to store boats, just as Lewis did. The boat slips will be leased.

“Everyone can breath a sigh of relief. There aren’t going to be any crazy changes there,” said Aylsworth, who added that the ramp will be closed to the general public, which should prevent overuse of the fragile waterway.

Brad Anderson, who owns the full-service grocery store in Glen Arbor, purchased the smaller, easternmost parcel on Fisher Lake (Parcel C, 48,769 square feet: see above photo).

“I think my interest level, along with the Ihmes, was based, in part, on the previous attempts to put density on that property that would upset the delicate balance in that watershed,” said Anderson. “It just didn’t set right with us, so we were able to work something out with Don that allowed the interested parties to achieve their respective goals without overburdening that side of the lake.”