A proposed amendment to the Elmwood Township Zoning Ordinance encountered determined resistance at a special meeting of the Elmwood Township Board Wednesday. The meeting was called at the request of township attorney Jim Young in part to reconsider the Board's earlier rejection of a zoning ordinance amendment designed to deal with shortcomings in the township's Resort-Commercial zoning district. Trustee Terry Lautner characterized development standards delineated in the proposed amendment as "insane" and promised to withhold support for the proposed zoning ordinance amendment until standards were substantially altered. The Board voted 6 to 1, with Lautner the lone "nay", to put the reconsideration of the proposed amendment on the agenda of their regular meeting to be held December 11.

The Elmwood Board voted at its regular meeting in October against adopting the new "Rural Resort" zoning district language. The district encompasses property that was the subject last year of an application by Wilderness Development to create a destination water park resort that would have surpassed the Grand Traverse Resort in intensity of use. The zoning amendments were undertaken as a part of the Wilderness application when the deficiencies in the existing Elmwood standards became apparent. The Elmwood Planning Commission in conjunction with its land use planning consultants and attorney Young worked over a period of 10 months to create standards for the district that Young characterized as "backing up your community Master Plan." The provisions underwent scrutiny via public hearing, and were reviewed and endorsed by the Leelanau County Planning Commission. Attorney Young called the current township zoning for the district "a recipe for a lawsuit".

Township attorney Young and planning consultant Val Lasdins will be on hand at the December 11th meeting to offer their professional input on the board's discussion regarding the adoption of the amendment.

Posted by Leelanau at 07:29 AM | Permalink

The Leelanau Post has a new layout. Gone (for now) is the newspaper-style layout that we borrowed from the Huffington Post and other news-oriented sites on the web. Our new layout shows a more traditional blogging style, with articles arranged chronologically rather than by subject--an arrangement we think will do a better job of showcasing new posts as they arrive. Hope you like it--let us know your opinions.

Posted by Leelanau at 07:23 AM | Permalink

Winemaker Bryan Ulbrich of Old Mission's Penninsula Cellars is leaving the winery he brought to national prominence to start his own label, Left Foot Charley. Ublrich's wines at Penninsula Cellars, especially his Rieslings, are among the area's very best and have won numerous state and national honors.

Now Ulbrich is passing the baton at Penninsula Cellars to his sister, Emily Ulbrich, according to this Sandra Silfven column in the Detroit News. His new winery will be based at the vibrant Village at Grand Traverse Commons project being developed on the site of the old State Hospital in Traverse City. The Left Foot Charley Riesling has been available at area restaurants for some time now and, based on our tastings, should be a worthy successor to Ulbrich's Penninsula products.

Posted by Leelanau at 10:49 PM | Permalink

The three defendants in the Deri Smith defamation case have said they will not apologize, even thought ordered to by a Leelanau County jury.

Although the jury in the Smith case specified that apologies must be made, the defendants Noel Flohe, John Stanek and Noel Flohe all said they had no intention of apologizing. But Record-Eagle reader Char Verschaeve has written an apology letter for them, as follows:

"Dear Ms. Smith: I truly am sorry for the flaws in my human condition that led me to act in such a vile and intimidating way towards you. As we are all human, this has been a real learning curve for me. From here on out, I will treat people with respect and fairness. If I feel the urge to harass people, namely women, I will seek professional help in order to better understand and change my unacceptable behavior. I am so, so sorry for all the unnecessary problems I have caused. If I would have apologized from the start it may have avoided all this nasty court business."

Right onl

Posted by Leelanau at 10:23 PM | Permalink

The farmland preservation measure in Leelanau County has gone down to defeat.

According to this story, the measure was defeated by a 24 percent margin.

Posted by Leelanau at 10:05 PM | Permalink

Three Elmwood township men have been found guilty of defaming Elmwood township Supervisor Derith Smith. Former township Supervisor Noel Flohe, former Trustee John Stanek and resident Don Barrows were found guilty by a Leelanau County jury of knowingly spreading falsehoods about Smith and must pay her thousands of dollars to fund her next campaign and make a public apology.

The suit stemmed from an anonymous mailing sent during Smith's successful campaign for Elmwood township Supervisor, according to this Record-Eagle article.

Posted by Publius at 09:41 AM | Permalink