It took more than two hours for the Leland Township Planning Commission to get through public comment at its Wednesday meeting, which included a hearing for the controversial youth Christian ministry group Leland Lighthouse. The group's landlord, Apollo Properties LLC, is seeking a special land use permit (SLUP) to open a clubhouse in downtown Leland. Critics argue the space isn’t properly zoned for a religious organization, and say approving the SLUP would take away precious retail space. The planning commission made no decision, but will continue reviewing the application in February.

The hearing for the Leland Lighthouse application was initially scheduled for December 3 at the Leland Township Library, which fits about 100 people. An overcapacity crowd forced the commission to postpone the hearing and find a larger venue. The hearing finally took place Wednesday at the Northport Performing Arts Center Auditorium, and dozens of locals packed the hall.

The Leland Lighthouse is a chapter of Youth for Christ (YFC), a multi-national Christian movement that dates back to 1944 and has more than 130 chapters across the U.S. Micah and Kya Cramer, the husband-and-wife duo leading the ministry, currently host most Lighthouse events – including Friday morning “rise and shine” coffee sessions and Sunday night youth group gatherings – at their private residence.

A SLUP would allow the pair to establish a new headquarters and gathering space at 110 North Lake Street in downtown Leland (pictured) – the space recently vacated by Grand Traverse Distillery. The property is zoned “village commercial” (C-1), which only allows certain business types by right – including retail, personal services, professional offices, and restaurants. Clubs can also be permitted in the C-1 district, but only by SLUP.

The primary question before the planning commission is whether the Leland Lighthouse is a club, as it purports to be; or a church/religious institution, as others have argued. Religious institutions are not allowed in the C-1 district, even by SLUP, and are required by zoning to follow numerous other requirements the North Lake Street property doesn’t meet – like that churches be located on sites “at least two acres in size.” The 110 North Lake Street property is approximately a quarter-acre in size.

While some public commenters spoke out in support of the Leland Lighthouse – one person praised YFC for its work to “mend relationships” and “mend families” – a larger number took to the microphone to share concerns.

“Exhibit C of the applicant's own Memorandum of Law, submitted to the Commission by the corporate YFC office, explicitly states that the sponsoring chapter [for Leland Lighthouse], Blue Water Thumb YFC, is a member church in good standing,” said Anna Hogan, a Leland resident. “We must ask: Can the applicant claim to be a member church for tax-exempt status but a club for zoning purposes? We must also consider the unintended legal buffer zone this creates. Under the Michigan Liquor Control Code (MLCC), there is a mandatory 500-foot restriction around churches. My understanding is that if a facility hosts any religious ministry, it is viewed by the MLCC as a church for licensing purposes. This barrier could therefore result in the automatic denial of any new liquor license applications for tasting rooms or other businesses encouraged in the C-1 district.”

Maggie Mielczarek, owner of Leland Gal and co-owner of the Leland Harbor House, noted: “We employ 50 people annually, the majority of which are teens, and several who are members of YFC. To those kids, their families, and extended members of the community: We adore you with our whole hearts and support you. If you are finding this to be a helpful tool for you, our love and support for you has never faltered… I am also one of four Chamber members who have stepped forward in an effort to revive and rebuild our crumbling Chamber after difficult years following COVID.”

Mielczarek went on to say that, thanks to a mixture of “rising rents, economic uncertainty, the increasing numbers of summer-only businesses, limited year-round dining options for visitors, and the severe lack of affordable housing,” Leland’s business community is facing headwinds. Taking away retail space downtown, she said, would exacerbate the problem.

Planning commissioners didn’t vote on the SLUP, and will resume that conversation at their next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, February 4. According to Township Supervisor Clint Mitchell, the meeting will focus mostly on findings of fact for the application.

“That'll be in February, and that is generally pretty lengthy,” Mitchell tells The Ticker. “It's a very deliberate process of just going line-by-line through applicable zoning. We'll also have a legal review from our attorney that we’ll make public before that [meeting], and that will also be incorporated with the findings of fact. I would venture to guess that the process is going to take the lion's share of the February meeting, and that [the planning commission] will want some time to digest that. So, probably a vote in March at the earliest. But that's just speculation.”

One potential wrinkle in that timeline? The departure of planning commission chairperson Ross Satterwhite. Though Satterwhite’s term on the board wasn’t set to expire until 2028, he announced at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting he would be resigning effective at the end of the meeting. His exit leaves four people on the planning commission, including two members of the local business community (Bluebird owner Skip Telgard and local vintner Sam Simpson), a representative from the township board (Steve Scales), and a member of the zoning board of appeals (Lee Cory).

“I don't expect [Satterwhite’s resignation] to affect the schedule going forward,” Mitchell says. “The process now is for the supervisor to nominate a new planning commissioner, and then the township board would appoint that person… Whether we'll plug a new commissioner in during [the SLUP approval process], I don't know whether I’m comfortable with it that. I think we could get through the process with four. But we'll see.”

Mitchell expects the next planning commission meeting will require another larger venue given the amount of community interest around this topic. “That’ll be determined hopefully next week,” he says.