sleeping bear gateways council

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Looking up the coast for clues to solve the housing riddle

The region’s need for housing has been well documented. That’s particularly true for homes priced for sale between $150,000 and $300,000, as well as long-term rentals commensurate with that price. In Leelanau County, with a median price of $640,000 and an average price of $937,506, the challenge is acute. Perhaps part of the answer lies in looking north. Emmet County’s housing market mirrors that of Leelanau in many ways. It is a popular resort and vacation area with a number of high-end second and vacation homes. In trying to get arms around the problem, the Leelanau Peninsula Economic Foundation undertook a survey of county businesses, which concluded the number one barrier to doing business is the lack of workforce housing. Now the Leelanau County Housing Collaborative, an arm of the LPEF, is asking workers, employers, and other community members to take part in the Leelanau County Attainable Housing Survey. The survey is designed to gather public input on housing needs and community priorities to help inform future housing solutions across the county.

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Inspired by Gateways Council, Housing North launches housing exchange

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Finding housing in the area has long been a challenge, and it only seems to be getting worse. In response, Housing North is implementing the Housing Exchange Platform, a means for those seeking rentals and those who may have available housing to connect. “It just launched,” says Housing North executive director Yarrow Brown of the effort. The Housing Exchange is a free, community-based tool to be used by both employers seeking housing for their workers and for individuals, connecting them with rental properties, whether that is homes, apartments, ADUs or simply rooms in a home. The platform grew out of a similar effort by the Sleeping Bear Gateways Council. The Leelanau County non-profit recognized the need for rental housing was acute and getting worse. Between low inventories of home for sale and for rent, increasing prices and the trend for homes to be used for more profitable short-term rentals, the Sleeping Bear Gateways Council formed in 2018 to focus on challenges and opportunities in the communities around the National Lakeshore.

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Glen Lake School pumps brakes on affordable housing initiative in nearby forestland

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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. 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, 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.

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Leelanau Housing Collaborative holds four community focus group meetings

A housing collaborative including the Leelanau Peninsula Economic Foundation, Sleeping Bear Gateways Council, Housing North, and the Northwest Michigan Rural Housing Partnership will hold a series of community focus group meetings in June. The dates are: June 4 at the Glen Lake Community Library in Empire; June 6 at the Leland Library; June 12 at the Friendship Center in Suttons Bay, and June 13 at Northport School. Each event is 5-7 pm. Join the Leelanau County Housing Collaborative for these interactive evenings to help bring Housing for ALL to Leelanau County.

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Teaching like Yoda

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore deputy superintendent Tom Ulrich, who will retire from the Park later this month, once heard a poignant analogy at a leadership conference that compared the old style of managing a National Park to the Star Wars jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who deftly and constantly fends off outside threats with his light saber. By contrast, the new style of Park management is not to deflect or fight off criticism from the public, but to engage, listen and teach as Yoda does. Ulrich arrived at Sleeping Bear Dunes in late 2002 at a time when Lakeshore staff was reeling from widespread criticism after it promoted an unpopular new General Management Plan that would expand portions of the Park classified as “wilderness.” His tenure at Sleeping Bear Dunes dawned a collaborative relationship between the Park and local citizens.

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Sleeping Bear Gateways Council holds annual meeting

The Sleeping Bear Gateways Council will host its annual meeting as a virtual event on Zoom at 5 p.m., Monday, August 21. The session will feature updates on the group’s projects as well as comments from leadership of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. All individuals with interest in the Sleeping Bear area are invited to join. Click here for a link.

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Sleeping Bear Gateways Council offers housing exchange

Do you own or rent property in Benzie or Leelanau counties with extra space in your home/property? Want to make additional income to offset the cost of owning or renting your home? Sign up to host a local employee in your home via the Sleeping Bear Gateways Council’s Housing Exchange.

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Sleeping Bear Gateways Council holds Aug. 25 annual meeting

The Sleeping Bear Gateways Council (SBGC) is hosting its annual meeting as a virtual event on Zoom at 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 25. The session will feature updates on the group’s projects as well as comments from leadership of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. All individuals with interest in the Sleeping Bear area are invited to join the meeting.

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Sleeping Bear Gateways Council seeks hosts for seasonal employee housing exchange

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For college students and others seeking summer employment in Benzie and Leelanau counties, getting a job is often the easy part. The hard part comes in finding a place to live. “It’s a significant barrier to anyone who’s not local,” said Isabella Beshouri, a University of Michigan student who spent a month in 2021 finding a summer rental after being hired as an intern at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. That barrier is being lowered in 2022 and beyond through an innovative “seasonal employee housing exchange” sponsored by the Sleeping Bear Gateways Council (SBGC) and funded through grants from local foundations and the federal government.

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Sleeping Bear Gateways Council offers update on workforce housing study at virtual town hall

The Sleeping Bear Gateways Council—a citizen group that works to engage local elected leaders, businesses and citizens to discuss the benefits and challenges presented by a growing visitor population to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore—will hold a second virtual town hall today to present and discuss the results of its Seasonal Workforce Housing project.

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