Suttons Bay Township Planning Commission To Hold Public Hearing For Controversial Residential Development Proposal

The Suttons Bay Township Planning Commission could decide this week whether local fruit farmers Mark and Karen Drake can proceed with a proposed 20-lot residential development on their farmland, located at 855 S. Stony Point Road in Suttons Bay. A public hearing for the development, dubbed Cherry Beach Orchards, is the primary item on the agenda for tomorrow’s planning commission meeting. That meeting is slated to begin at 6pm and will take place at the Suttons Bay Township Offices, located at 95 W. Fourth Street.

The Leelanau Ticker reported in March that the Drakes were looking to redevelop 52.70 acres of their 65-acre farm – the long-running Stoney Point Orchards – into a “20-lot open space residential development.” The project site is located near the intersection of S. Stony Point Road and E. Smith Road, with water frontage on Suttons Bay just across Stony Point Road. The land is currently home to the Drakes' existing house and two barns, as well as the Stoney Point Orchards farming operation. If approved, the Drakes would pursue a two-phase development on the property that would ultimately add 20 new detached single-family homes to the site.

Cherry Beach Orchards has been a recurring topic of conversation at Suttons Bay Township Planning Commission meetings this year, garnering significant public interest along the way. The most recent of those discussions happened on July 1, at a special meeting called specifically “for the purpose of continuing the review and consideration” of the Drakes’ proposal. That meeting saw the attendance of approximately 30 members of the public, both in person and via Zoom.

Both in written communications to the planning commission and during public comment periods at meetings, local residents have raised a myriad of concerns about the Drakes’ proposed development, ranging from potentially dangerous road traffic impacts, to obstructed scenic views for other nearby homeowners, to erosion. In particular, public commenters have questioned the residential density of the proposal and how it could impact the so-called "rural character" of Suttons Bay Township.

The Drakes are seeking planning commission approval for an open space development, defined in the township’s zoning ordinance as a “flexible development alternative to protect open space, farmland, scenic views, rural character, reduce infrastructure and the impact on natural resources.” Under that development tool, Cherry Beach Orchards would preserve 26.9 acres (or 51 percent) of the 52.70-acre parcel as open space. That open space would remain under the ownership of the Drakes, who have said they would continue to live in their on-premises home and use the open space land for agricultural purposes.

The rest of the acreage would be split into one-acre residential homesites, something the planning commission must give the Drakes permission to do. Under Suttons Bay Township zoning, residential districts allow for a minimum lot area of one acre. Stoney Point Orchards, though, is currently zoned agricultural, a zoning district that stipulates a minimum lot area of two acres. Some public commenters have suggested that allowing Cherry Beach Orchards to become an exception to the two-acre rule would set a “dangerous precedent,” emboldening other developers to try applying the same rules to other farmland redevelopment projects in the future. Several neighbors have asked whether the Drakes would consider two-acre sites to reduce housing density at the site.

For his part, Mark Drake has said that he and his wife are only seeking to sell the “minimum” amount of land necessary for them to retire while also allowing younger generations to carry on with agricultural operations at Stoney Point Orchards. Speaking during public comment at the July 1 planning commission meeting, Drake noted that he owns 300 acres of land in Suttons Bay, but that his family would rather continue farming than sell all of that land for development. At the same time, he spoke to the expense of maintaining that property as agricultural land, citing high tax rates on the property. The Drakes aren’t the first farmers in Leelanau County to speak on the difficulties of making ends meet with traditional agricultural operations.

If approved and built as planned, Cherry Beach Orchards would still represent a significant housing development project for Suttons Bay Township, which is otherwise growing slowly on that front. Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Zoning Administrator Steve Patmore prepared a report showing the number of land use permits issued in Suttons Bay Township as of late. The year-to-date number for 2025 is just 18 permits, including three for new homes, two for building additions, 10 for accessory structures, and three for projects classified as “other.” That’s a lower year-to-date number for land use permits than any year in the past decade, save 2020. Last year at this time, for instance, the township had issued 24 land use permits, including eight for new-construction homes.

A packet for tomorrow’s meeting, including details about the Cherry Beach Orchards plan and minutes from past planning commission meetings where the proposal was discussed, can be found here. The latest version of the Cherry Beach Orchards design plan and application, meanwhile, can be viewed as part of the planning commission’s July 1 meeting packet.