Glen Lake School pumps brakes on affordable housing initiative in nearby forestland
A photo of Glen Lake School’s 180-acre forestland along Benzonia Trail/CR-677 taken in 2012 after the school clearcut aspen trees.
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
Glen Lake School will not consider turning 180 acres of forestland which it owns on Benzonia Trail into affordable housing—at least not yet.
School Board members were to hear presentations at the meeting on Monday, Dec. 9, concerning the property which is currently managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Informational presentations were scheduled that would feature forestry and conservation director Ellie Johnson explaining how Glen Lake’s forest can be used under current DNR provisions, as well as a session from the Sleeping Bear Gateways Council (SBGC), which was approached by Glen Lake School in summer 2023 to consider how the land in question could be used for affordable housing—an acute and dire need in Leelanau County, where home prices have surged.
Instead, Glen Lake superintendent Jason Misner announced that the board would hear no such presentations.
“This is simply due to not having a defined process and procedure for changing the usage of this property,” said Misner. “We feel as though this came on very rapidly and before considering any potential change to the designation, we need to become better educated on the current and future use opportunities.
“The board will not be considering any changes to the current designation of the school forest property at this time. We will take ample time to learn about how to best utilize the property within the currently written provisions associated with this land.”
The school district inherited the forested, 180-acre property in 1941 when Empire, Maple City, Glen Arbor schools consolidated. Last year, school board member Rick Schanhals spoke with the DNR about the possibility of using the property for affordable housing. In mid-September of this year, Glen Lake School officials and representatives of the Gateways Council met with State Rep. Betsy Coffia (Democrat), State Sen. John Damoose (Republican) and the director of the DNR to discuss a proposal for the property in question “to be made available for use in developing a community to include attainable and affordable housing,” according to an update on the Gateways Council’s website.
“The DNR has proposed allowing the deed of 180 acres to the school district for zero dollars because it meets the following conditions: located outside of a dedicated state forest boundary; not adjacent to state-owned land; does not provide access to a body of water; there is a well-documented need for affordable housing in this region of the state,” stated the Gateways Council. “Accordingly, the DNR developed an administrative path that would allow the school district to move forward in providing attainable housing to public service employees until such time as certain milestones have been met.”
Namely, according to SBGC, the DNR has proposed as an administrative action to: transfer of the property currently owned by Glen Lake School to the state; issue a public use deed back to the school, and allow attainable housing for public employees as a use of the property.
Glen Lake’s teachers, staff face housing crisis
Locating enough local housing for Glen Lake School teachers and staff is a paramount concern for the school district. A significant percentage of current staff will approach legal retirement age within the next five years. Who would replace them, if they choose to retire, is an open question.
According to statistics provided to the Glen Arbor Sun by the Gateways Council which were compiled by Housing North, the average income of a local elementary school teacher is $61,650, which pegs their maximum housing budget at $1,541 per month. But the median cost to own a home in Leelanau County is $4,961 per month.
Misner’s own story of coming to Glen Lake School highlights the region’s housing crisis. Misner started as superintendent in August 2022. He was the fifth to occupy the post (including two interim superintendents) since 2019. The local community wanted to make sure Misner and his wife, Julie, and their three school-aged children stayed. That meant finding them a home.
Up stepped local realtors. First they found the Misners a rental near the Glen Lake Reformed Church on the east side of Big Glen Lake. Then when the late John Peppler’s house in Glen Arbor was scheduled to hit the market in November, 2022, listing agent Peter Fisher worked with Ranae and Bob Ihme to give the Misners a head start and make an offer before a potential bidding war began. It was a collective real estate decision made for the good of the community. Glen Lake’s new superintendent got the house after leaving a school district near Kalamazoo where he had worked for 17 years.
