Northport and the surrounding Leelanau Township will work together to address a lack of workforce housing in the immediate area.

Both the village council and township board separately approved resolutions this month directing Village Manager Jim Dyer and Township Supervisor Mike McMillan to “explore the establishment of a joint township/village planning commission and housing commission responsible for the study, planning for and potential operation of attainable and year-round rental housing.”

Dyer and McMillan are to report back to their boards by June with a plan and next steps, according to the resolutions.

A lack of workforce/affordable housing has long been an issue throughout the Grand Traverse region, with a recent surge in housing prices making the situation even more dire. The issue is arguably even worse than the local average in the Northport area, which is relatively affluent and decidedly isolated.

Dyer tells The Ticker workforce housing is “an acute need” in the immediate area, with homes and rental units that once might have fit into that category being “grabbed up” in the raging market over the last few years. Workers that can’t find housing are unlikely to stick around, Dyer says, creating a void that kneecaps businesses and impacts the community at large.

“Without a focus on (affordable housing), you end up with retirement communities rather than communities that have long-term viability,” he says. “If we’re gong to have a thriving, year-round economy that’s going to be self-sustaining, you have to have places for people to live.”

McMillan says housing is something he and Dyer talked about on Dyer’s first day on the job a few months back. He’s eager to sit down with Dyer and hash out a plan.

“It’s an obvious need,” McMillan tells The Ticker. “The resolution by the township and the village was the first step, and Jim and I will meet to start figuring out how we put the arms and legs on it, how many people should be on the commission, things like that.”

The commission could function in a variety of ways, Dyer and McMillan say, up to and including developing and owning housing itself. But it’s far more likely that the commission's role would be to facilitate and/or incentivize private developers to build quality, affordable housing in the area.

“(Being a landlord) is not something the government does a really good job at, but it’s something the private sector does well,” Dyer says.

There are several publicly-owned sites that may be suitable for housing, Dyer and McMillan say, potentially negating the need to purchase land.

“There are various village and township properties that might work,” McMillan says. “We recently did an inventory of everything, and it was actually a surprise to us how many different properties we already own that could fit into a model that we're talking about.”

It is likely that the commission would look to work with other established partners like Housing North or Peninsula Housing, a Leelanau-based nonprofit founded by wine kingpin Larry Mawby.

“This could be a partnership amongst two or three housing facilitators,” McMillan says.

No matter how it shakes out, forming the commission is a step that shows both communities want to put serious effort toward the housing problem, McMillan and Dyer say, and they’re glad they’re teaming up to get something done.

“If we work together, we're going to benefit together,” Dyer says.