Conservancy Set to Acquire ELHC Land
Story updated August 26, 2024
This article has been updated to include an edited transcript of the announcement meeting. Scroll ye down.
The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC) has signed a purchase agreement to buy the 35 acres of land the Elberta Land Holding Company (ELHC) has accumulated over decades for $19.5 million.
The conservancy is calling on the community to help raise some $7.5 million before the closing date on December 15, GTRLC Executive Director Glen Chown said as he presented the conservancy’s plan for the land at the planning commission meeting on July 3. He said the group has secured about $12.5 million in pledges so far.
At the meeting, Chown explained GTRLC’s plans for the land: Turn 16 of the 26 acres of the land adjacent to the beach into a park, and conserve the rest. The remaining 9 acres that are located in the “Marina District” of the village will be transferred to the State Land Bank Authority, which will help the village prepare those properties for redevelopment. And the Betsie Valley Trail will finally be able to connect through to Elberta beach.
“Done right, this will be the most consequential community conservation and placemaking project in all of the state of Michigan,” said Chown.
Mind you, this still has to be approved by the GTRLC’s board. Chown said that body will be looking for a show of broad, enthusiastic community support for the plan, as well as donations.
Chown said GTRLC and the Land Bank Authority would provide resources for an in-depth, community-led planning process to help the community decide how the banked 9 acres will be used.
Chris Sullivan, the GTRLC’s director of land protection and an avid fisherman, said public fishing access will be a top priority.
Let the Alert know what you want to know about this project, process and purchase! Send us all your questions! We will do our best to answer them!
To donate to help purchase the property (it’s tax deductible!): Go to GLTRC.com.
A Description of the Project in Glen Chown’s Own Words
An Edited Transcript of the July 3 Announcement at a Meeting of the Village Planning Commission
GLEN CHOWN: I'm excited. This is a historic announcement for everybody that loves Elberta and Northern Michigan.
I'm Glenn Chown, and I'm the executive director of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. I've been in that capacity for 33 years. … Historically I've enjoyed partnering with this village on projects like Elberta Dunes South, which is a real gem along the coast. And just recently I ventured over to [Elberta Beach] and saw all the upgrades, and I'm so proud that we're going to partner with that project as well, with the trust fund grant, the local match. And so I'm excited to announce another project, but first I want to introduce Helen Taylor, who is the state director of the Michigan chapter of the Nature Conservancy. She's been partnering with me for over 20 years, and that all started at Arcadia Dunes, on the big coastal campaign project. If you haven't read the book [Saving Arcadia], I recommend it. And then also we have Chris Sullivan, who is our director of land protection. He actually does all the real work. So he’s the guy on the ground all the time. So here’s the news. And you guys are the first to hear this publicly.
On Thursday afternoon [June 27, 2024] at about five o’clock, I got it an email [saying] we now have a signed and legally binding purchase agreement for all of the Elberta Land Holding Company properties, for $19.5 million.
This has been a long and winding road, kind of a roller coaster, over two years. Helen and Chris have been a big part of that. Of course, it was spurred on by a lot of concern about a previous full development [plan for the] property [the Richard Knorr proposal]. And a lot of people said, can’t the conservancy help out? And at first we said, Oh my gosh, it seems like a real big deal. … Anyway, we sort of dove in not knowing where this would lead, but the property, as most of you know, is these two red parcels [referring to map] and multiple parcels by the village's Life Saving Station Park, which by the way is a wonderful park. Congratulations on that. And it is about 35 acres total. There's 578 feet of frontage on Lake Michigan between the break walls at the mouth of the harbor and by the village beach. And then with all the frontage on Betsie Bay, I’m reading here, it totals 3,120 feet. So a lot of water frontage, which is why it's so expensive. And from our standpoint, we are particularly excited because of our focus on coastal dune protection. Hence the book. Thank you. Hence our partnership with the village. On that dune, there's 10 acres of dunes with very nice habitat. And so you’re probably wondering, well what’s the plan?
Well, we’re now in a 60-day due diligence period. Our board has to approve this purchase agreement before it’s binding on our end. It’s binding on the seller’s side. But as a conservation organization, we need to do due diligence. We need to do a full BEA — a baseline environmental assessment. Phase one, phase two, we have to basically update what’s already been done. And that process started yesterday. But 60 days goes pretty fast, and there's a lot to look at. So the good news is there have been baseline environmental assessments on this property. So we’ve looked at ’em, it’s volumes about this thick [spreads hands high]. Chris has actually read them.
There’s a gold star. Maybe he has insomnia or something. The good news is, we didn’t see anything of great concern, but we have to be careful and we have to make sure it’s updated properly. So that’s underway. And then the other thing, what our board is looking for is why I’m here tonight. Our board wants to know that this is broadly supported in the community because we have to come up with $19.5 million by December 15. And that is not a penny more than the appraised value as of about a year ago. As a nonprofit, we cannot pay more than appraised value. The appraisal was done by a qualified appraiser out of Grand Rapids and the same appraiser that is working with the sellers that has worked with them for years.
So that is our deadline. Our board is looking to know that there’s community support. So you’re probably wondering what is the plan. I'll start with the part I'm most excited — well, I’m excited about the whole plan — but I’m really excited about the western portion of this property, which is about 26 acres total. Again, 10 of dunes. … What we’re proposing is that the 16 acres on the water be eventually acquired by the Village of Elberta as parkland. You would connect this [new] park with the [Waterfront Park], and you’d have a contiguous corridor of parkland from this point to the south end of the beach.
We’re not going to ask the Village to pay for it [out of] your own coffers. What we would probably do is apply for a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant. Then the conservancy would cover the entire local match and sell it to the Village for way, way, way less than appraised value and let the trust fund acquisition grant cover all the costs so there wouldn’t be cost to the Village on the acquisition side. So that’s the goal here. And the other goal from a recreational standpoint, obviously we’re very aware that extending the Betsie Valley Trail to go beach to beach is a huge priority for this community, for the region, and is cited in various recreation plans as a top priority. We would love to facilitate that. We’d love to work with the village, the Betsie Valley Trail folks and get that accomplished over the next couple of years. To me that’s a dream to have that type of pedestrian and bicycle access. And maybe that would help with some of the parking on those beautiful July and August days. People can just hop on their bike. Those who are able.
Another feature of this, the dune area, is very sensitive. The conservancy would like to hang on to that as a nature preserve. And we would manage it and steward it as a very sensitive area. It has a lot of erosion issues if it’s trampled on. We’ve been managing invasive species on the Village beach and we have a management agreement with Sand Products Corporation [the major landowner, with about 180 acres of dune forest in the Village limits]. So we would fold that management altogether with ownership of the 10 acres. So that's the conservation and recreation side of the equation.
Here on the nine acres that's in your master plan for redevelopment, I think it’s called the Marina District, if I have read your documents correctly: What we’re proposing — we’re not a developer, but we have long recognized that the Village needs some economic development and some growth of the tax base. We’ve been having that conversation with the Village for years, and we’re sensitive to that and we actually agree with that. Particularly, you need more tax base so you can take care of your parklands, and we’re certainly here to help you take care of your parklands. So as we’ve been doing for years with Elberta Dunes South, [is that] on December 15, at closing, the conservancy buys all this property from Elberta Land Holding Company and we’re immediately transferring the nine acres to the Michigan Land Bank Authority, which is an entity that is actually set up for this type of reason. And we do it in partnership with the Village. The Land Bank Authority is an arm of the Economic Development Corporation. And they deal with blighted properties. They deal with transitioning former industrial properties into assets that are positive for communities.
… For example, they have dollars available now to remove blighted buildings. So instead of burdening the Village or the conservancy with those types of costs, the Land Bank authority brings potential dollars. They bring potential planning resources, they bring some tax incentives. … It’s not intended for them to own it forever. Their business is to hold onto it for communities who are trying to figure out what to do with it. And then they help them plan and then they transition it.
LISA BELLAR: Why don’t they try just to sell the property out to the public already? Keep what you want to conserve and sell the rest.
GLEN CHOWN: I like what she's saying for a couple of reasons. So let me finish with what the next step. So Land Bank Authority would own it temporarily. What would happen during that temporary period is they would improve the property for redevelopment, for example. But more importantly, there would be time to do a planning process for how it should be developed in a manner consistent with your master plan vision and in a manner where public input could be provided. We don’t want to assume we know what the public and what this planning commission and Village wants. We would like you all to dictate that vision and have a process facilitated by an expert. We’re not asking for you to even pay for that. Between the conservancy and the Land Bank Authority, we would provide those resources.
I don't know how long that process would take, but it would be a very transparent process, and there would be an opportunity for the public to weigh in, because at the end of the day, what we want to see here — we’re a reverse real estate business organization. We don’t get involved in developing land other than recreation infrastructure. So that is not our area of expertise. And our board really didn’t want to get involved in that except for at a very high level, as a way of ensuring that the Betsie Valley Trail can go through that property that the plan encompasses, things like that. So that it is done in a way that supports community values. So that process would start on December 16!
And obviously this planning commission is going to be very involved even though [the property will be owned by] the Land Bank Authority. They're doing this on behalf of the Village, and the Village would be a full partner with the Land Bank Authority. The Land Bank Authority is coming with Chris July 19 to walk the property with the Village leadership and talk about what’s next and how to execute a fantastic process going forward. So that’s the plan for this. We don’t want to prescribe exactly how it should be developed. That’s not what we do. But we know there’s a lot of interest in workforce housing. We know there’s a lot of interest in growing the tax base. We know there’s a lot of interest in having that trail go through the property.
MEMBER OF PUBLIC: There is a proposal or put workforce housing in that space?
GLEN CHOWN: It could be if the community and your master plan, if that’s a priority, that’s an opportunity. If it’s not a priority and the community doesn’t want it, you folks are going to dictate that, not us.
MEMBER OF PUBLIC: Of course we're losing tax dollars by you having it, so we need something to go in there.
GLEN CHOWN: Yeah, well you’re not going to lose tax dollars here [Marina District], right? You’re going to gain some. You'll gain significant—
MEMBER OF PUBLIC: But today we're losing tax, in the short-term.
GLEN CHOWN: In the short term. But in the long term, the gain is far, far greater. And that’s with the conservancy. The conservancy was started by Rotary Charities in 1991. And when Rotary started our organization, I mean I was there, my marching of orders were, Glen, you don’t try to save everything. You save the best of the best so that we don’t kill the goose and the golden egg. But development and growth is not a bad thing. It’s a good thing. People need to live. And so this is about balance. This will be a very balanced project: preserve your best assets, provide more public access and recreational amenities, and then redevelop in a very thoughtful way with lots of community input consistent with your master plan, in this area, which makes sense to be redeveloped. I mean look at the history. It goes back into the mid-1800s. It was a heavy industrial area and we're now at a point where this community can shape its own destiny.
This whole palette — it is not like we need to take down the [Koch Fuel] tanks now. Tanks are gone. It’s not like we need to do the heavy-duty cleanup. The Brownfield Grant has taken care of that. So now we have this palette, we want to do it right and we recognize that to do it right,will require lots of community input and following the vision of this planning commission in this Village. So it’s really a full partnership and we’re excited about it. Not many people know about this. There’s more people in this room right now that know about this. It’s nice to know. It is been the best kept secret. We had to keep it a secret because to negotiate the sellers required confidentiality. So if we had violated that, this would not be happening.
I mean this from the heart: done right, this will be the most consequential community conservation project and placemaking project, one of the most consequential in all of the state of Michigan. And it’s going to be a point of pride for Elberta in this region. It’s exciting, and we are humbled to be here. And again, I want to honor that longtime partnership with this Village that was really important to our board, that we had a track record of working with the Village, saving this property, helping manage it together, helping the Village secure that trust fund grant. So the amenities at Elberta Beach which is, don’t tell anyone, my favorite public beach — I am going to get in trouble out at Old Mission where I live. But when I think of a perfect lake Michigan beach, it’s right here. It’s getting more awesome every day. It really is. And then to add this, to add that trail, it’s going to be extraordinary. Helen, Chris, did I miss anything? You guys want to add anything?
HELEN TAYLOR: Only that you’re [the public] the ambassadors. I mean, we have a lot of money to raise. Every donation will count, and I think sometimes when you have a project with this kind of price tag, people think my donation can’t make any difference because it’s such a big number, but it can. It’s the only way it happens. So really spread the word out so Glen’s board has the opportunity to say yes because they have confidence — because they’re a little worried right now. Glen's stretching them right now.
And the only other thing I would add is there are many other examples in communities where planning processes can be really robust and transparent. And it can take any shape that your community wants it to. But there’s one example that I'm involved with where it was everything from polls to one-on-one interviews to talking to all the stakeholder groups that use and recreate on places like this. Because when you have public meetings, sometimes not everybody, some people are shy to speak up. So to really pull out of people what their desired balance is, what are the values that you want to guide the use of this land? It takes an in-depth process, and that can be done with the right consultants and facilitators who are used to doing this in communities. So that’s the kind of quality that we hope to bring to this. That's our goal.
So Chris [Sullivan], do you want to add anything? As the guy that’s really done all the work, I think we should get Chris a round of applause. It was not an easy deal to negotiate.
CHRIS SULLIVAN: Yeah, no, I would just say that we’re here to help. Happy to answer questions or talk if you want. Jen [Wilkins] has my contact information.
Man. This is exciting to me. I worked on the Elberta Dunes South acquisition, I worked on the beach improvement grants and yeah, it’s really great to see this all come together. It’s been a long time coming. There’s been lots of folks over the years who have expressed anxiety about what was going to happen to the waterfront.
GLEN CHOWN: Thank you Chris. To amplify what Helen said, we have about $12.5 million in pledges today. It's going to be more than 19.5, but to get to December 15th, we need another seven plus. There’s a lot of closing expenses. So call it seven and a half. So for the next five months, I’m going to be living in Benzie County. So you’re going to see a lot of me, a lot of Helen, our fund development team, and we want to give this community the people who care about Lake Michigan and our natural resources and our recreational amenities, which are second to none by the way, an opportunity to be a part of this story and create history just much like the coastal campaign. And people ask, how does this compare to the coastal campaign?
I was a lot younger and a lot more naive, which was probably a good thing because I didn’t get sleep for about three months that summer. But in terms of impact, this project in some ways is equal to that project if not more because of how it will impact so many people. It doesn’t just impact Elberta, it impacts Frankfort, it impacts the whole county. It will be a shining example in the entire region if not a statewide example of how to do things right. Isn’t that great that Elberta with all this storied history — that Ken [Holmes] knows probably better than anyone — and we’ve got those old photos of the 1800s and I look at that waterfront in amazement, and then I imagine what it could be if we all work together and get this done. So I’m already on my soapbox here, sorry about that. But if you know people who want to contribute, get in touch with us.
Especially the ones that come during the summer. We have this window, to look at this waterfront. Every gift [to the Conservancy] can be earmarked for this project and this project alone. Here you go.
JIM BARNES: Much gratitude to you and Helen and Chris for all your great work behind the scenes. This is just some of the best news to come out this community. So two questions. You’re going to be camped out in Elberta and doing some fundraising. So well, Crystal Lake, and Watervale, we're going to bring everyone in. If those are things that can be shared with us now so we can pass it along by word of mouth. Then number two, is there anything to be said about Sand Products selling their property to you?
GLEN CHOWN: Not today, or tomorrow, I need a little breather, but lemme say this: I’ve known the McKee family actually for 35 years. I used to work at Little Traverse Conservancy when Patrick's father Brad sold the Sturgeon Bay area as an addition to Wilderness State Park.
And that was about 35 years ago. And I've been in touch with that family ever since. And I will say we have a good relationship. They seem to be in no hurry. We’re not in a hurry. The only thing I’ve asked them is if they ever decide to do something, could you call us first like your dad did 35 years ago? And that’s why we have this management agreement. We’re already managing the invasive species, the baby’s breath problem, and they’ve been great to work with. They’re happy that we’re stewarding their dealings and their properties. So who knows? Is it something they could actually mine [for sand]? I mean no. That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about because of the Sand Dune Protection Act. In 1976 when Governor Milliken was our governor, this area, the vast majority of it, if not all of it, is critical dunes. And that act outlawed sand mining on critical dunes and it puts some restrictions on development.
JIM BARNES: But there are areas on this property, having done time in there, people have asked if someone could come in the back door where we ski and run and whatnot where there are hardwoods and get in there and mine the sand. Is that not doable?
GLEN CHOWN: No.
JIM BARNES: Do you promise?
GLEN CHOWN: Well, the one thing about government and laws, they can change. They can change. So the best form of protection is right here, and what this is going to be.
So if they called up and said, Glen, if you need an encore for this project, we would try to get it done. It’s one of the last big parcels left on Lake Michigan that’s not either developed or protected. And these dunes are from a biological and geological standpoint globally unique. They are visible from outer space. They’re one of the most unique features on the whole of planet Earth. And this one’s pretty special. So yeah, we’ll move heaven and earth. We got to take of this first, otherwise I'll never be able to retire.
EMILY VOTRUBA: So what do you need from us, the community, in addition to spreading the word and that kind of thing. I mean is there something we can do?
GLEN CHOWN: There are people who are passionate about conservation, and if you identify people who want to contribute, let us know. And it wouldn’t hurt [for people] to write a letter of support to the planning commission or the Village Council and the Conservancies and you support this.
MEMBER OF PUBLIC: The trust fund: down the road, when it’s time to go to the trust fund, which would be next year in April for this piece of it. That's Land Bank, right?
GLEN CHOWN: That's different. That's the Natural Resources Trust fund. They give communities acquisition grants. It's funded by oil and gas revenues on state owned lands, not tax dollars. And they give grant money away to, not to organizations like ours but to municipalities. So the Village would put in the application and the Recreation Plan, you have a five-year rec plan. That’s critical. That has to be updated. And one of the goals of this project that I haven’t mentioned yet, once this community supported vision, which is consistent with your master plan, is put down on paper and folks are really excited about it, then the property is sold to an appropriate developer, not one who's going to try to build a seven story hotel. … A developer that would work with this community. And it might be a combination, there might be a nonprofit component. Like I hear there’s a great community land trust in working out of Frankfort.
Now if there are proceeds from a sale to a private entity, you can’t just give things to private entities if you are a government or a nonprofit, it has to be based on appraisal. If there’s a sale, we would like to see a good portion of that sale go to help [the western end of the project and] the parks in the Village. And the nice thing is we already have a model set up. The community foundation, which is set up to manage endowments on behalf of communities like Elberta, already holds an endowment here [for EDNA]. And we would like to grow that endowment so that this Village won’t be strapped in the future when there’s capital improvement needs or maybe even just annual operation and maintenance.
So we’re going to be tasking you all to kind of figure out what would be an appropriate annual revenue stream, and if we could hit that target based on a 4% annual draw, wouldn’t that be fantastic as an outcome of this project? So we’re thinking long-term, and we’re thinking how can we support this great village so there’s not financial distress in the future — and so it will reflect well on the Village and the conservancy so that people who are contributing this project will be even more proud that they helped us get this done, because it's being stewarded in.
I sent one of our lead donors over to the Village beach last weekend and I said, you’ve known that beach since you were this high. And she’s around 70 years old now. And I said, you’re going to be blown away. And she actually contributed toward the match. She was one of the people that helped us get that done. She was so blown away and happy with what the Village has done to improve the parking, to prevent the ORVs running all over the dunes to have those nice paths now down to the water. And she was absolutely stunned and happy and appreciative. So our goal is that this new parkland asset in the future is managed at the highest levels so that it’s a point of pride for the community, for the village, for the conservancy, for all of us who love Lake Michigan and love the recreational assets in this region. Other questions, Helen?
HELEN TAYLOR: When it comes to the planning process for the nine acres, what we hope is we can — we know that we aren’t the experts in this at all — but there are people out there that can give great advice on when you have an opportunity like this, you don’t want to use all that revenue for just day-to-day operations just a once in a lifetime. So how do you manage that opportunity financially as a municipality, what are the strategies and long-term thinking to consider. So we’re hoping to bring that kind of expertise because there’s a lot of ways to think about that from a business standpoint, economic development standpoint, et cetera. Whether you retain, sell, lease, all those things.
EMILY VOTRUBA: One question I think people will have is about fishing.
GLEN CHOWN: Well, you've got the most avid fisherman on planet Earth, Mr. Chris Sullivan, Chris, in fact, Chris has been thinking a lot about fishing.
CHRIS SULLIVAN: … I think there’s a consensus with everybody I’ve talked to that there’s a desire to keep, even in the nine acres, the waterfront portion open to the public, where the Betsie Valley Trail would go along the waterfront, there’d be public use easement there. So all that [area] would be available to fish on the lake side of the trail, and on the western part, we’re anticipating applying for funding from the Great Lakes Fisheries Trust for a fishery grant so you have access to the deep water port area, around the mouth [of the bay], and the mouth of the Betsie. It’s world class fishing as you all probably have observed in years.
I’ve talked to the DNR fish biologist who covers the Betsie River Watershed. She’s already said that she’s very much in support of a [grant]. So yeah, I think that will be a big part of it.
GLEN CHOWN: You might be seeing Chris out there soon. I said, well would you please take a photo, because that'll help us get granted. Tough duty.
One more thing, I’m just curious. I’m not asking for an answer now, but with opportunities like this, how you define community becomes an interesting question, because is this the Benzie County community? Is it just Elberta opinions that are going to be asked for and count? Is it an opportunity to bring Frankfort and Elberta together to talk about what they want to be together? I mean it could be any of those things, but those will be questions to mull over as you think about how you want your engagement process to play out and what are the pros and cons of any of those things. And you have a lot of visitors that come in: do you want to know what they think?
…
And I would just add one thing because you mentioned that the short term tax hit, and I know sometimes when you're talking about these big long-term things that will be great in the future, sometimes it’s the short-term details that trip people up. We have budgeted for a couple of years of property tax payments until that western portion can be conveyed to the village. So there will be some tax revenue. It’s unlikely we'll be able to have it open to the public before [two or three years], just because there’s contamination. Some of that will have to be dealt with. Parking improvements might include having to encapsulate some of those areas with top soil or paved trail or those sorts of things. So that's built into it to make that transition easier on you guys so you’re not losing all of that tax.
And that’s why this is a two-phase fundraising effort. … We’re not going to go on the cheap. We do not want to stress this village out at all. Just the opposite. We want to really support this village so that you guys come out in great shape.
…
MEMBER OF PUBLIC: Is there a place that smaller funds are being funneled into at the moment or just to direct people to a specific place?
GLEN CHOWN: Our website’s going to go live probably tonight or tomorrow. You can just send checks to Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and you can send it and just write Elberta Waterfront Project on it. … And it's tax deductible because we are a 501(c)(3).
…
MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC: Do you have specific plans or goals for management or working with plant species on the dune property or in the deep water area or does that happen later?
CHRIS SULLIVAN: … I think mostly it is going to be managing for invasive species. I don’t think there’s going to be any sort of trail [through the dune area]. It’s super steep. I don’t think there’s going to be trails or any sort of infrastructure.
… All of the flat part, the 16 acres that we intend to go to the Village, that would be working with the Village and the Parks and planning commission to figure out what you all want that to look like.
It is going be more of a public natural area type park. You’re not going to put football fields down where the old tanks were. It’s going to be more natural, minimal infrastructure. You’ve got great infrastructure at the beach, but there will be some infrastructure for fishing access. That will help with the trust fund.
[Jim Barnes spoke at length about his love for Elberta, and then we went outside for the group photo above, and the meeting was adjourned.]
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