Some residents along North Lake Leelanau are upset over draft zoning overlay district language that includes what they consider to be “draconian restrictions” on their property rights.

The Lake Leelanau Lake Association, which prepared the document and presented it to the Leland Township Planning Commission, says it was not advocating for the overlay district as drafted and was instead simply providing a “sample framework for discussion.”

That position has further rankled some residents, who believe the LLLA is not being transparent about its actions or intent.

The waterfront overlay district “model language” document was shared with the township planning commission on July 1 as part of a LLLA presentation about zoning and overlay districts. Such overlay districts are one of several zoning tools communities may use to establish additional regulations for properties located along the water. Centerville and Cleveland townships previously adopted them.

Included in the model language presented to Leland Township are restrictions on things like the number of motorized and non-motorized boats, docks and hoists depending on property's shoreline length. Those (and other items like regulations on setbacks) proved to be very hot button issues as the document circulated in the community.

Lakefront resident Harold “Tony” Borden wrote to the LLAA on July 21, sharply criticizing the model language and calling the LLAA’s actions a “total failure of your responsibility to us as members,” and a “betrayal.”

“More troublesome is that some of the new, much stricter limits proposed in your model language, if adopted, would effectively be confiscating individual property and riparian rights,” he wrote. "It appears the LLLA wants to create a homeowners association for the north lake where LLLA is in absolute control of lakefront property and uses without having obtained the consent and agreement of the homeowners whose property LLLA would so strictly regulate."

Lakefront resident Jim Grogan says a lot of the regulations in the model language would directly impact residents’ use and enjoyment of the lake.

“I have 12 grandkids, and they're saying I can only have four kayaks. I find that very oppressive, over the top and overreaching,” he tells The Ticker. “We all agree that protecting the water quality of Lake Leelanau is extraordinarily important, however, it is a recreational lake and there must be a reasonable balance.” 

The LLLA has since stated that it was not advocating that Leland Township adopt the model language as written, but was instead sharing the concept of an overlay district as a useful tool in protecting water quality.

“When it was shared with Leland Township, it was presented as a simple framework for discussion, not as a proposed ordinance or a recommendation that it be adopted in its entirety,” LLLA board president Nancy Popa tells The Ticker. "It's really up to the community. We don't make regulations."

At least some residents don’t buy it, pointing to the LLLA’s role in supporting overlay districts elsewhere and an email sent by the LLLA to members ahead of the July meeting stating it will be “asking the Leland Township Planning Commission to consider adopting a Waterfront Overlay District.”

“So now they're backing off and they’re trying to say, well, that’s not our proposal. This was just some model language. Well, you put your logo on it. You gave it to the planning commission,” Grogan says. “Their subsequent efforts to deny their lobbying efforts has hurt their credibility tremendously.”

Leland Township Planning Commission Chair Lee Cory said she did not consider what the LLLA presented to the planning commission to be finalized language. She says the LLLA was making a “very fact-based presentation” of shoreline concerns and ideas to solve them.

“It was not a strong push at all,” Cory tells The Ticker. “What I saw it was: this is something that we are thinking about to preserve the lakeshore. These are ideas. This is very preliminary.”

While the LLLA can't directly create or enforce laws or regulations, it has directly advocated for legislation and has worked in the past to urge communities to support zoning or other land use regulations that can boost the health of the lake. 

"Water quality is highly impacted by land use practices, and although we work hard to educate individuals, land use plannning goes a long way to assure that new development projects are desinged with these practices in mind from the start," Popa says. 

Regardless, the LLLA is pausing further advocacy for a overlay district in Leland Township and is “taking a step back to better understand the perspectives of all our members on zoning-related activities.”

“We have been listening carefully to community feedback regarding the Lake Association's advocacy  for best practices in local zoning ordinances, particularly in Leland Township,” Popa wrote in a July 21 email to members. “After considering the concerns that have been expressed, we have decided to suspend our advocacy efforts while we gain a better understanding of our members' priorities.”

Popa says the LLLA plans to hire an independent marketing firm to conduct a comprehensive survey of association membership to better understand the issues that matter most to members and ensure that future efforts reflect those priorities.

“On this particular issue, we acknowledge that we moved forward before fully engaging our membership,” Popa says. “In hindsight, we should have sought broader input earlier in the process. If our actions created concern or confusion, we sincerely apologize.”