Zoning Overlay Ushers In New Era For Leland Cultural Institutions

Three of Leland’s most notable cultural institutions have less red tape, more clarity and likely more opportunity after a successful bid for a cultural district zoning overlay.

The Leland Township board this week approved the overlay after many months of study and discussion. It applies to contiguous parcels owned and occupied by the Old Art Building, Leland Township Public Library and the Leelanau Historical Society & Museum along a large curve in the Leland River.

While all of the land was – and still is – zoned residential, the overlay gives the three entities a clear set of rules and regulations for what can and can’t happen there in terms of events, food trucks, music and more.

The organizations for years had operated as “legal non-conforming uses” within a residentially zoned area, meaning they had to jump through hoops to achieve various programming goals. They also ran into other problems with residential zoning, which tightly restricts things like signs, sound and other matters.

“We now have clarity, the next leaders of these organizations will have clarity, and the community will have clarity,” OAB Executive Director Sarah Mills tells The Ticker.

While the three organizations welcome the clarity the new overlay provides, they also celebrate it as a way of enshrining the purpose and vision for Leland’s own little cultural corner.

“This was a community lift,” Mills says. “It took the full weight of the community behind us to show how important this was, and it really is a watershed moment for this community, much in the way preserving Fishtown was…I think it speaks huge volumes to how much this community cares about history, art, culture and education.”

This process also greatly strengthened the relationship between the three organizations. 

“We’ve worked together for a long time, but I personally feel like this process has really elevated things in terms of us having a better understanding of each other's operations and how and where we can work together,” Mills says.

There was plenty of back and forth throughout the process about exactly what should be allowed within the overlay, primarily driven by neighbors with concerns about noise and other matters. Despite this, the effort got to the finish line.

“Everyone who’s been involved should feel good about it,” Leland Township Supervisor Clint Mitchell tells The Ticker. “In time – and it did take a while – I think everybody came together to realize that there were a lot of desirable impacts from this and that they should get to a compromise.”

Mills acknowledged that she’s not thrilled with certain elements of the final overlay regulations, including restrictions on a new piece of property acquired by the OAB. That property won’t be allowed to have food trucks or amplified music. The organizations also received less food truck permission than initially requested (the final plan allows each organization to host two single-day programs per year with food trucks, down from the requested three each).

But, Mills says, the three entities knew that compromise is important.

“It’s really important to us to be good neighbors, and that’s part of why we were happy to make the adjustments,” she says. “Nothing will ever be exactly all of the pieces that you want.”

Photo: Leland Township Public Library Director Mark Morton, Leelanau Historial Society & Museum Executive Director Kim Kelderhouse  and OAB Executive Director Sarah Mills in the OAB.