Northport will soon be ready to talk to developers about affordable housing, and voters there will likely decide the fate of the village’s Mill Pond dam.

The Ticker checked in with Village Manager Jered Ottenwess for the latest on these initiatives.

Housing moves forward

Since Ottwnwess started early last year, Northport has taken several significant steps to pursue affordable/attainable/workforce housing.

In addition to incentivizing workforce housing within village limits, the village executed a land split that preserved a de facto public park while carving out a small chunk for affordable housing.

Then, at a work session in March, the village council saw several different conceptual housing plans for two small properties: One on 7th Street at North Shore Drive (the result of the land split) and another on High Street across from the high school.

After additional discussion and community feedback at a well-attended April meeting, the village is pursuing a six-unit multifamily apartment building on the High Street property and a “cottage court” style development on the 7th Street property.

Now the village has to iron out more details and see who might be interested in building these developments.

“My next step is to talk to developers that we think are going to be interested in potentially working with us and have those discussions with them about what…they would like to see in an RFP,” Ottenwess says. “What kind of details can we provide them so they are comfortable with the proposal they’re going to submit?”

Being careful about that process will likely help the village connect with the most appropriate and enthusiastic developer, Ottenwess believes.

“We're doing what's considered a small-scale development for most developers. They aren't necessarily that interested in coming all the way out to the end of the Leelanau Peninsula to build 12 dwelling units and to make them attainable,” he says. “So I think a really important step is just to have those conversations and try and solicit that interest before we're actually formally going through the process of an RFP.”

He's hopeful that the developments can pencil out.

“When I've been working on my pro forma analysis for these two sites, I think it’s possible to have for-profit housing developers who could still develop attainable units and make a profit,” he says. “Part of the reason for that is because the area median incomes in Leelanau County are so high that even what's considered attainable for households making 120% or below of the AMI is what some markets see as a market rate.”

Voters to decide dam fate

Much discussion has focused on the future of the aging dam that creates Mill Pond on Northport Creek. The structure was built in 1935 and needs repairs.

The topic has been polarizing, with some in favor of fixing it up (primarily to retain the pond, which is used for a fishing derby and other activities) and others in favor of removing the dam entirely and “re-wilding” the creek for environmental purposes.

While there are plenty of state and federal dollars for removing old dams, there isn’t much in the way of funding to repair or replace them, Ottenwess says. So if that’s happening, there are only so many options.

“I kept coming back to this idea of how if there is support for replacing the dam and maintaining the pond in its current state, how is the village going to fund that?” he says. “And realistically, there are almost no alternatives than having a voted millage.”

Ottenwess says a millage vote would also functionally let the village settle the question of the dam’s future once and for all, though many of Northport's seasonal residents won't have a vote or a say.

“It can be a very divisive issue, with people who want to remove the dam rewild the creek, and the folks who want to keep it as it is,” he says. “I think the key decision point is if you are going to replace it, where does that funding come from? And the council was supportive of that idea, and they want to let voters decide. To me, and I think this is how the council is thinking about it too, if the millage fails, then the direction is (clear that it should be removed).”

If all goes according to plan, the vote will be on the November general election ballot.