Gilmore Township: Hitting 'pause' on projects

Feb. 12—ELBERTA — Gilmore Township officials want to review township zoning before allowing certain types of developments to move forward.

Trustees agreed at a Jan. 25 meeting to a six-month pause on developments under one section of Gilmore's zoning rules. Ronald Beyette, who led the meeting in township Supervisor Carl Noffsinger's absence, said an increase in housing projects within Benzie County called for a closer look at township zoning rules.

The moratorium, which could be extended for another six months, blocks any permit or variance applications, applications for special use land permits, rezoning requests and site plan reviews under Section 9 of township zoning.

Gilmore Township officials previously asked the township's attorney to review those zoning rules and master plan, Beyette said.

"And in doing that, he said there was some ambiguous language in that, and that he suggested we do this moratorium to give us some more time to clarify some of those things," he said.

Shortly before the meeting, Graceland Fruit applied to build a housing development on property it owns near its Forrester Road plant, documents show. The application, which also lists Habitat for Humanity of Benzie County as an applicant, calls for building up to 51 manufactured homes over two phases, starting with 27 in what it calls a mobile/manufactured home park.

The fruit processing company and nonprofit want to partner on a workforce housing project on land the company owns at Forrester and Grace roads, as previously reported.

Groundwater there contains elevated iron, manganese and arsenic levels from the company's past practice of spraying fruit processing wastewater on a nearby field, although company board President Jonathan Ball previously said there are options for providing clean drinking water to the development.

Neighbors' concerns

Township residents and landowners previously cited both the contamination and concerns over the project's density.

Beyette said several commenters pointed to the township's 5-acre minimum lot size.

"Residents of the township, they are concerned and the board has to listen to them," he said. "You just can't dismiss it if someone has a concern. You need to look into those things."

Tina Langley, who lives about a half-mile from the proposed development, said she was among those at the meeting with concerns about site contamination and rural preservation. She agreed Benzie County needs workforce housing, but supported the moratorium so the township can examine its zoning before making any decisions.

"I think what the six months will do is definitely get some questions answered — or get at least room for further discussion," she said.

Ball in an email declined to comment on the moratorium, as did Glen Tracy, Habitat for Humanity of Benzie County's board of directors president.

Current zoning rules wouldn't allow what the company and nonprofit propose to build, said Josh Mills, the township's zoning administrator. Mobile or manufactured home parks are allowed but can't exceed the underlying zoning's housing density limits without a planned unit development.

The just-passed moratorium would block a planned unit development, and even that section of zoning doesn't include a density formula, Mills said. It's one argument for passing that moratorium, since it gives township officials time to come up with density limits for special use permits.

Other projects

Meanwhile, Habitat for Humanity and a host of other organizations are working on various workforce housing projects around Benzie County.

HomeStretch Nonprofit Housing wants to build up to 32 townhomes in Weldon Township, said Executive Director Jon Stimson. The first phase would build out half as many, and they're all planned for the southwest corner of Lindy and Weldon roads. He's seeking $800,000 in Michigan State Housing Development Authority grants.

Crystal Mountain, a nearby resort, is helping with the project, Stimson said.

"I would say that a portion, but not the majority, is for the resort," he said. "It's really for the Thompsonville and Copemish communities and businesses in those communities."

Stimson said he's still working on getting the necessary zoning approved, and hopes to break ground in spring 2024. He'll also seek a tax break from the township.

Once built, half of the apartments would be for people earning up to 60 or 80 percent area median income, while the rest would be for renters earning up to 100 percent area median income, Stimson said. Those currently range from $42,420 to $70,700 for a household of three, according to MSDHA.

They'll be designed like townhomes that HomeStretch just finished in Honor, Stimson said. Building them out of prefabricated components put together on site cuts down on lead times required for manufactured housing, and the buildings have super-insulated envelopes and cross-laminated timber floors.

The eight, two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom apartments in Honor are almost full, Stimson said. That includes two with project-based housing vouchers for people making 30 percent area median income or less, Stimson said — up to $21,210, according to MSHDA. Two more are for people making up to 60 percent area median income, while the remaining four are for those making up to 80 percent.

These apartments stand at the corner of Main and Henry streets, where a long-vacant building that had housed an art gallery and studio once stood, as previously reported. The Benzie County Land Bank Authority demolished the building in 2015 after buying it in a tax foreclosure sale.

Land Bank

Benzie County Treasurer Michelle Thompson, who heads the land bank authority, said she's seeking out hundreds of thousands more in blight elimination grants. Funds from the state will help clear properties that can be redeveloped into housing.

That's one possibility for two lots in Thompsonville where the land bank wants to clear blight there, Thompson said. Habitat for Humanity of Benzie County, already building three homes in the village, indicated interest in the two lots. Clearing blighted structures can address various issues, such as health or environmental concerns, she said. They also can help developers realize the underlying land's potential.

"Once you clean the canvas, they go, 'Oh, I could see this happening here,' so then it kind of helps the market for that lot to be repurposed," she said.

Club to townhomes

The land bank authority also will help HomeStretch with another project, this one in Frankfort, Thompson said. She's planning on using some of the funds the authority gets for blight elimination to demolish the former Lions Club.

Stimson said he's planning more townhomes there at the corner of Lake and Main streets, 12 at first and possibly 12 more in a second phase. He's working with a neighboring property owner to buy their land.

Architectural plans call for differing color schemes, a wraparound porch and door embellishments to make the structure more appealing, Stimson said. Three would be for those making up to 60 percent area median income, with the rest for those making up to 80 percent.

Plans are to break ground in early July, but first HomeStretch needs another $290,000 to build the first phase. Benzie County already chipped in $500,000 from its American Rescue Plan Act money, and MSDHA granted $600,000 from its Missing Middle Housing Program.

More attainable housing is planned for Frankfort under a different model, one offering homes for sale at less than market rate.

Land Trust

The Frankfort Area Community Land Trust plans to break ground on two new houses in May and eventually build two more, said Jay White, the land trust's president. These three-bedroom, two-bathroom houses would sell for 75 percent of their appraised value and stay below market rate in perpetuity.

That's thanks to an 89-year renewable lease that homeowners would sign and pay, White said — the added cost to them is small, he noted. It adds some restrictions to renovations they can do to the home and requires them to notify the land trust when they sell.

"The real key for the nonprofit to own the land is to make sure that home stays in the workforce housing inventory in the community ... so it couldn't be sold to the second home market, even the primary market, if the income levels don't align," he said.

Homes also couldn't be used for short-term rentals, he added.

Homeowners would get 25 percent of the home's equity when they sell it, with 75 percent going to the land trust, White said. That would fund future housing builds, while whatever the homeowner paid on the mortgage's principal would go back to them.

Frankfort Area Community Land Trust bought the property for these houses in September and has them cleared for construction, White said. Groundbreaking is expected in May on the first two, and he wants to partner with a revived construction trades program at Benzie Central and Frankfort high schools to build the fourth house.

Missing middle

The need for "missing middle" housing — falling somewhere between $175,000 to $250,000, according to a market study cited by the land trust — is nothing new, but it's become especially acute, White said. He's a real estate agent whose daughter took over after he retired.

"It's very hard to find a home in our community for our missing middle-incomers," he said. "We're going to end up in Bear Lake or Kaleva or, you know, as far away as Mesick to find homes that they can afford to purchase, and they're going to drive 25 to 30 miles back to work every day."

Mills, who's also Frankfort's superintendent, is aware of the situation and called himself a housing advocate. He knows workforce housing projects are complex and oftentimes require the kind of partnerships happening in Frankfort.

Gilmore Township is different, both in its zoning and its desire to preserve its rural character, Mills said.

"But I'm really hoping that the community has an exceptional dialogue on what we need to do as a community to be in a better position to encourage and promote workforce housing," he said.