Business owners, local parents, and the Fishtown Preservation Society oppose Apollos Properties’ and Youth for Christ’s contentious bid for a special land use permit to create a youth ministry in a building they own in the heart of Leland’s business district. Now Youth for Christ is striking back and elevating the legal stakes of this battle playing out in a small Leelanau County town but with potential implications far beyond Northern Michigan. On March 10, Timothy White, an attorney with the Parker Harvey law firm, sent a letter on behalf of their client, Apollos owner Jim VanSteenhouse, to the Leland Township assessor and board of review. That letter questioned the charitable tax-exempt status of the Fishtown Preservation Society in the town’s historic district of fish shanties. The district includes VanSteenhouse’s property at at 110 North Lake St. where Youth for Christ wants a ministry.