It’s been more than 20 months since the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and a local nonprofit took ownership of the former Timber Shores property south of Northport.
The announcement was hailed as a victory for the tribe, which received nearly 200 acres of ancestral land – now called Mashkiigaki – and generated considerable excitement about the potential for more affordable housing in an area that badly needs it. [...]
Updated: Sep 22
Statement made by request of The Leelanau Ticker on September 10, 2026
New Community Vision continues to be immensely grateful for the broad community support and the partnership of the Grand Traverse Band in accomplishing our goal of protecting environmentally significant land as a nature preserve and setting aside an upland parcel to contribute to the need for attainable housing.
As we have stated from the outset, we support the ongoing stewardship of preserved lakeshore habitat and connecting people to nature. As part of that NCV has continued to conduct bird surveys on the nature preserve now called Mashkiigaki (the former Timber Shores) and is helping the GTB reach out to neighbors of Mashkiigaki about the invasive species survey work that the GTB’s Natural Resources Department is doing.
NCV also continues to undertake a conservation-development approach for attainable housing for our community through the optimal use of the 25 acres of the acquired property set aside for attainable housing – which means designing a community that fits in with its natural surroundings, with a human-scale and right-size approach, including open space and a focus on conservation.
Since the acquisition of the property in December 2024, we have continued to work with the community to understand the demands for attainable housing.
To that end, NCV completed a professional conceptual planning process conducted by Urban Design Associates (UDA), a national land planning firm with an office in Suttons Bay. We are grateful for grant support for the conceptual planning work from the Leelanau Township Community Foundation and Rotary Charities. This work has built on our collaboration with Peninsula Housing and their experience with a similar site in Suttons Bay.
The UDA-led conceptual planning process in 2025 included a series of four stakeholder focus group sessions, which continued NCV’s commitment to community engagement.
These sessions attracted contributions from 75 people, from the following groups:
Area Employers – including representatives from the school, village and township governments and business owners in the food and beverage, agriculture, tourism, and construction fields
Employees/Those in need of Housing - This group represented fields including education, emergency services, construction, agri-business, township office functions, and restaurants
Neighbors/Nearby Property Owners - All neighbors within a .75-mile radius were contacted
NCV donors
Across the focus groups, significant consensus emerged related to the local need, desired types and scale, and the aspects of character and values important to incorporate. These included:
A primary need is for what is sometimes referred to as ‘workforce housing’; housing for year-round residents with various family structures, for prospective employees that turn down employment because of the lack of housing and young people wanting to return to the area.
Employers and employees conveyed that a significant portion of local salary levels fall within the 60% - 120% AMI range, matching the income range that local non-profit developers can accommodate in bringing new housing units to the local market.
More stated interest in ownership compared to rental units; 2- and 3- bedroom units were seen as best, and some expressed the need for 4-bedroom units. A particularly prominent theme was the importance of storage and garages.
Maintaining the rural/scenic character was emphasized as well as the importance of environmental standards and energy efficiency
Avoiding short-term rentals or that owned homes would be ‘flipped’; underscoring the need for a Homeowners Association and importance of appropriate deed restrictions and overall management of site to keep it affordable and to preserve community.
Including open space in keeping with the conservation development approach and protection of neighboring Mashkiigaki. Several participants emphasized native landscaping for the open space and ideas for play spaces and a walking trail.
The conceptual planning process continues in 2026 and has included initial site, zoning and civil engineering analysis. The analysis indicates that no more than 30 units – and likely somewhat less – are possible on the 25-acre site, including a possible mix of stand-alone single-family homes, duplexes and, possibly, two smaller-scale townhouses. Environmental research on the property regarding civil engineering and initial test pits have been conducted and reviewed with the County Environmental Health Department, identifying the northern area of the site as optimal for drainfields.
Taken together, this conceptual planning work is now serving as a planning baseline for NCV to explore partnership prospects and for more detailed planning.
In the last several months, NCV has continued discussions exploring partnership prospects that emphasize coordination and collaboration with Leelanau Township and Northport Village. This has included supporting and participating in special public meetings on housing convened by the township and village, including on April 28, 2026 where we shared the results of the conceptual planning process and also heard more information about the demand for rental as well as owned housing.
Currently there are multiple efforts underway in our community to meet the critical need for attainable housing and the need requires a mix of housing in terms of size, target income range and rental and ownership. In addition to NCV’s 25 acres, the township and the village have both been taking steps to make small parcels they own available for attainable housing.
Our partnership prospect discussions are based on working entirely with the best intentions for our community and will seek to align and collaborate with the township and village towards the right mix of projects for the community. As a community organization we are open to other concepts for community consideration and ongoing conversation.
For more information, see www.newcommunityvision.org
By Meakalia Previch-Liu, mea@leelanaunews.com
People packed into the Northport Public School gym on April 28 for the third community housing meeting organized by the Village of Northport and Leelanau Township.
Present at the meeting was leadership from both local municipalities — Leelanau Township Supervisor Barb Conley, and Northport Village Council President Chris McCann and Village Manager Jered Ottenwess — as well as representatives from area-nonprofits focused on expanding attainable housing including Beth Verhey, vice board president of New Community Vision (NCV); Jonathan Stimson of Homestretch Nonprofit Housing; and Larry Mawby of Peninsula Housing. In addition, there were builders at the event with more information about the type of projects they work on.
“It’s extremely important to have these community meetings to be able to understand what people need and for people to be able to understand what we as governments or others can do about it,” Conley said at the meeting.
Ottenwess was the first panelist to talk about the Village of Northport’s efforts of expanding attainable housing over the last year. He said the affordable housing issue is particularly acute in Leelanau County, but it’s not unique as it is a national issue.
Northport village council has addressed the need for attainable housing in specific ways, Ottenwess explained, such as by creating and approving incentive housing ordinances last year — one for a workforce housing PILOT as well as an attainable housing facilities exemption. The attainable housing facilities exemption ordinance establishes an “attainable housing district” that encompasses the entire village of Northport, with the intent being to offer a tax incentive to owners of small-scale rental housing developments (1-4 units) that are affordable to moderate-income households. The workforce housing PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) ordinance encourages the development or rehabilitation of workforce housing by exempting such projects from ad valorem property taxes and instead providing for a service charge in lieu of taxes.
Ottenwess also talked about Northport’s efforts to produce conceptual site designs of the village-owned Seventh Street and High Street properties, two locations being considered for attainable housing development. 3-D renderings of those Seventh Street and High Street conceptual development designs were available for viewing at the meeting. Ottenwess said getting feedback from the public on those designs is part of the process in figuring out how the village moves forward before they make any final decisions.
“I’m glad to be a part of the process of trying to address what at times can seem like an insurmountable issue, but there’s a huge demand for attainable housing in this area and county, and I think the village is trying to do its part, it can’t solve it all, there’s a lot of macro issues involved, but the village council seems really committed to doing what it can with the resources it has,” Ottenwess said.
Conley then spoke about the efforts of Leelanau Township, noting how the board also approved a PILOT ordinance in 2025 to help make housing more affordable. In addition, the board has made the commitment to make a portion of township- owned land located north of the fire hall available for attainable housing and have put out a request for proposals for the possible development. The township hopes to break ground on the project by 2027.
Verhey of NCV spoke next about where they’re at with developing attainable housing on the 25 acres adjacent to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ nature preserve called Mashkiigaki. NCV’s property, which is on the former Timber Shores campground in Leelanau Township, was acquired in December 2024, and the nonprofit is currently in the midst of completing a conceptual planning process utilizing a conservation development approach. That approach means designing something that fits in with the natural surroundings which includes an open space and a focus on conservation.
Aside from informing the community of local housing efforts underway, much of the meeting was reserved for interacting with others and the information tables spread out around the school’s gym.
Sticky notes were used to gather feedback from people for general questions about housing. Some of the questions included whether rental housing was needed in Northport; what type of housing would people like to see; and if people had trouble finding a place to live in Leelanau Township.
The feedback left by attendees via sticky notes all noted that rental housing was indeed needed in Northport. People also left numerous examples of different types of housing they’d like to see and included everything ranging from single family townhomes and workforce housing to developing Habitat for Humanity homes and more rentals, such as apartments, for young people.
The interactive period was followed by a panel discussion that took questions from community members about housing. Questions for panelists varied from topics about restrictions to short-term rentals in the area to the hurdles builders face when trying to construct attainable housing in a community.
Mawby of Peninsula Housing said during discussion that one thing people need to recognize in Leelanau County and in Northport is even if you have things in place like the appropriate zoning and approvals, the cost of everything exceeds what people can afford to pay. Nonprofits like Peninsula Housing have a limited array of sources for funding of housing projects and is one of the main issues they face.
“The gap between the cost of doing construction, the development, and what people can afford to pay needs to be covered somehow,” Mawby said at the meeting. “One of the biggest impediments that we have is access to grant money or federal or state dollars that are directed at affordable housing to subsidize that gap. Most of the federal and state dollars go to urban areas, their programs really don’t direct money to rural areas.”
Those with ideas or suggestions regarding housing can contact the township or village offices directly as both municipalities continue to navigate what attainable housing should look like in the county.
NCV thanks the Leelanau Enterprise and Meakalia Previch-Liu for allowing us to share this coverage with you.