Two proposals aimed at addressing housing shortages in Leelanau County are moving forward after public hearings last week. The first, a pending Empire Township ordinance that would regulate short-term rentals in the village, is finally gaining traction after years of board discussion. The second, a 30-unit residential development in Suttons Bay proposed by the nonprofit Peninsula Housing, got a preliminary approval for its site plan.

Empire short-term rentals

The Empire Planning Commission held a public hearing last week for a new zoning amendment that could lay the groundwork for regulation of short-term rentals (STRs) within village limits. The amendment, which the commission ultimately approved, comes after years of discussion in Empire about how the village should deal with the growing presence of STRs and its impact on housing availability.

The Leelanau Ticker last reported on Empire’s STR talk in July 2024. At the time, village leadership was debating between a registration ordinance (a system where local STR operators would have to register with the village, but wouldn’t be otherwise regulated) and a regulation ordinance (which would likely cap the number of STR licenses available in the village). Back then, data indicated that 63 of the 147 residences in Empire were STRs, or 17.3 percent.

Two years later, Empire still has neither type of STR ordinance. The village council and planning commission have drawn criticism for their indecision on the topic. Earlier this spring, Ella Skrocki, a member of the village council, resigned her seat on the board due to housing challenges that forced her to relocate outside of the village. As she resigned, Skrocki urged the council to move forward with STR regulations, to make the village more hospitable to long-term residents and especially young families.

“Many young, longtime residents are unable to find stable, year-round rentals or afford to buy and keep a home here,” said Skrocki, whose family owns and runs Empire's Sleeping Bear Surf. “They’re being pushed to build their lives and grow their families elsewhere, just as I am.” Skrocki added that she had “personally been outbid twice” on houses in Empire that then became STRs.

The amendment the planning commission approved last week doesn’t cap STRs, but does formally define them in the village’s zoning ordinance. As it exists today, Empire’s zoning code has no definitions for – or even mentions of – STR uses. The new amendment would expand Section 2.02 of the village zoning ordinance, adding an STR definition (“A dwelling, dwelling unit, or accessory dwelling rented for human habitation for a period of less than 30 days, not including bed and breakfast establishments, hotels, motels, or inns”) and clarifying that STRs are allowed in single-family, two-family, multi-family, or accessory dwelling units, anywhere in the village.

In addition, the amendment would require all STR owners to register their rentals with the village.

Planning commissioners discussed possibilities for a limit on STRs, but agreed the village should take a wait-and-see approach where data from the first year or two of STR registrations is then used to inform the cap.

The amendment now goes to the village council for final discussion and approval

Suttons Bay development

Larry Mawby’s Peninsula Housing nonprofit is one step closer to breaking ground on a new 30-unit housing development in Suttons Bay, following a preliminary site plan approval from the township’s planning commission last week. The organization is looking to building 12 duplexes and six single-family homes on a parcel it owns at 980 Herman Road. The homes would then be sold at affordable price points in accordance with Peninsula Housing’s community land trust (CLT) model, which sells the structure but retains ownership of the land.

Last month, the Suttons Bay Township Board approved a request from Peninsula Housing to add a new type of zoning district – the “neighborhood residential district” – in its zoning ordinance. That district is intended “to create affordable, attractive and ecologically sound neighborhoods in close proximity to the Village where urban services such as municipal water and sewer may be available,” according to zoning language. Speaking to The Leelanau Ticker in April, Mawby said the approval of the zoning amendment was essential for allowing Peninsula Housing to do what it wanted to do at Herman Road, in terms of dwelling sizes, lot sizes, and setback rules.

The final approval for the new zoning district at the township board’s May 13 meeting teed Peninsula Housing up to bring its Herman Road site plan to the township’s planning commission. That public hearing took place last Tuesday, and brought good news for the nonprofit.

“The planning commission gave us preliminary approval of the site plan,” Mawby tells The Ticker. “Final approval can come after outside agency approvals – health department, road commission, fire and rescue, etcetera – and a final site plan showing more detail on landscaping buffers than we currently have. We are optimistic that will occur at the next planning commission meeting in August.”

If all goes according to plan, Peninsula Housing hopes to break ground on the first Herman Road homes next spring. A tentative buildout plan calls for construction 10 of the units in 2027, the next 10 in 2028, and the final 10 in 2029.

In the meantime, Mawby says Peninsula Housing is hard at work seeking out funding for the project.

“We are proceeding with our application for a major grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank,” Mawby says. “We hope to know the results of our application in November.”

Site plans, architectural plans, and other application materials for the Herman Road project can be reviewed on the Suttons Bay Township website.

Pictured: Renderings of a single-family two-bedroom home Peninsula Housing intends to include as part of the Herman Road development.