A new nature preserve with ample public access opportunities. The home of a small attainable housing development. A property that could support a range of other uses, with public input to help determine what those uses might be.

That threefold model of possibility is the vision that New Community Vision (NCV), a recently-formed nonprofit, has for the 200-plus acres that make up the controversial Timber Shores property near Northport. The nonprofit is working to purchase the Timber Shores land. Should those efforts be successful, NCV will steward the land using a “hybrid land trust model,” which would conserve much of the property but also apportion out parts for attainable housing and other desired community uses.

NCV is officially launching the public-facing portion of its campaign today, with the announcement of a benefit concert to be held Sunday, August 13 at The Ridge at Verterra in Northport. The concert will begin at 6pm and will feature the talents of Livingston Taylor, a singer-songwriter whose recording career dates back to the early 1970s. Taylor, who is perhaps best known as the brother of iconic folk-pop superstar James Taylor, has scored numerous Billboard hits throughout his career, including “Carolina Day,” “Get Out of Bed,” “I Will Be in Love with You,” and “First Time in Love.”

The concert is sponsored by Francie Downing and Melissa von Stade in memory of their late sister Carol von Stade, who, per NCV press materials, “for 60 years treasured her time outside in the tranquil beauty of Leelanau County.” Tickets are $60 apiece and are available for purchase on Eventbrite. All proceeds from the event will go to NCV and will be put toward the purchase and conservation of the Timber Shores property.

Timber Shores has been the subject of contentious community debate in recent years after the property’s current owner started taking steps to turn it into a sprawling RV resort. Developers sought to build 355 RV sites and 15 tent sites on the coastal Leelanau Township property, which previously served as an RV park until the late 1980s. The project became embroiled in a range of different disputes and lawsuits, relating to everything from zoning rules to sewer agreements.

All has been quiet at Timber Shores since November, when Leelanau Township voters upheld a zoning ordinance adopted by the township’s board of trustees in March of last year. That amendment changed sections of the zoning code that pertained to setback requirements in commercial resort districts. Specifically, the amendments altered waterfront setbacks in those zones from 40 feet to 125 feet, barred developers from building within 100 feet of a neighbor’s side yard, and implemented a brand-new setback rule that requires developers to build at least 25 feet from all wetlands.

Timber Shores developers pushed back against the ordinance change, claiming it was a direct rebuke of their development plans and would significantly stymy their ability to proceed. Their opposition to the changes led to a referendum on the November 2022 election ballot, which asked voters to decide whether the amendment should stand or be reversed. Voters upheld the setback changes 689 votes to 473, and there has been no public movement on the Timber Shores RV resort since.

Now Beth Verhey – who serves as board vice president for NCV – says the organization has an option to purchase the Timber Shores land from the current owners, who are identified in a press release as NM Investment Co., LLC and RVTS Investment, LLC.

“The president of our organization has a land trust background and has actually had an open line of communication with the owner [of the Timber Shores land] for some 10 years, hoping he would consider different things than he has been pursuing,” Verhey tells the Leelanau Ticker. “What we have with him now, technically, is an option agreement, which basically says if we can accomplish our major donor fundraising, then [the property] is ours.”

That fundraising process will go far beyond a benefit concert and will span a variety of partnerships and funding channels. Verhey notes that NCV is working on securing “a conservation-related bridge loan backed by some grant pipelines.” Supporters can also donate directly to NCV via the organization's website or by check.

While Verhey doesn’t specify a dollar amount that NCV needs to raise to hit the Timber Shores price, she is confident the community will support efforts to take the property in a different direction – especially given how many people pushed back against the land being turned into an RV resort. “We’re optimistic, in terms of the feedback and support we’ve gotten so far,” she says.

If/when NCV does secure enough funding to purchase Timber Shores, the organization would kick off a process of “studies and partnerships” aimed at identifying which parts of the acreage “are of the highest conservation value and environmental impact.” The thought right now, Verhey says, is to preserve “the majority” of the property, including its 1,800 feet of lakeshore, 10-plus acres of wetlands and streams, and plentiful woodland areas. Per NCV, those parts of the parcel collectively host “critical native fishery habitat” along with plants, birds, and other wildlife. Community impact sessions would help nail down the exact conservation plan, including “optimal public access in the conserved areas.”

Verhey, a local housing advocate who previously served as chief of social policy for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), identifies housing as another priority, and says the organization will likely try to allocate “some of the upland parcels” of Timber Shores for attainable workforce housing.

Finally, the NCV website outlines a “more inclusive vision” for the Timber Shores property “to benefit our community.” To achieve that inclusive vision, the organization would pursue “a process of community and stakeholder engagement [to] determine the mix of uses” for the land. In addition to housing, the organization will consider “other appropriately-sized uses that align with community priorities” for upland areas, depending on what ideas are brought to the table at public engagement sessions.

John Sentell, who serves as volunteer president for NCV, said in a press release that the organization’s goal is “investing in new thinking to support the long-term stewardship of this legacy lakefront property,” and that he is excited to move the project into its public-facing stages.

“A lot of hard work has been done behind the scenes to get to this point, and this announcement is one of the first steps in a journey to align a collective vision,” Sentell said. “We have a short and urgent window of opportunity to purchase the land."

Pictured: Nature scenes from throughout the Timber Shores property, courtesy of John Sentell and Kate Bulkley, NCV board members.