Conservancy OK'd in Mitchell Creek Meadows site plan review
Mar. 4—TRAVERSE CITY — East Bay Charter Township planning commissioners signed off on the site plan for a new headquarters for a local nonprofit to be made out of existing buildings at the old Mitchell Creek Golf Course.
The township's planning commission on Tuesday both toured the site off of Three Mile Road to inspect staked out areas where renovations and other elements are planned, then gathered in an online meeting to discuss the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy's plans for the future Mitchell Creek Nature Preserve. They voted 4-2 to approve the site plan for the planned use development to revitalize the abandoned buildings and add elements such as a greenhouse, goat barn and solar panel array.
The existing clubhouse will be renovated into an office building to house the conservancy's administrative operations, built to standards associated with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Features will include energy efficiencies, reused rain water to flush toilets, heating with geothermal energy and the use of solar energy generated on site, said Raymond Kendra, principal architect with Environmental Architects of Traverse City.
"The goal of the project is to be as close as possible to a net-zero facility," he said, further describing the green efforts as an exciting element of the project.
The existing pole barn will be transformed into a volunteer center and the greenhouse will help the nonprofit grow native plants for use at preserved lands.
Steve Stannard, of Gosling Czubak engineers in Traverse City, said the site plan specifically calls for impacts on the environment to be minimal.
"All of the forested environment is to remain untouched, along with the wetlands," Stannard said during the online meeting.
Conservancy officials said the project continues in its feasibility study phase, and they will better know by summer whether to press forward with the proposal. The goal is to have a fully permitted — both local and state — project to take to the nonprofit's board for approval in May, said David Foote, the conservancy's stewardship director.
"We've got our fingers crossed," said John Collins, conservancy board chairperson during Tuesday's site visit.
Collins said the chance to run the agency's operations from the heart of a preserved property, having reused existing structures, and the site being connected to the rest of the community via recreational trails amounts to ideal circumstances.
The conservancy bought the land in 2019 after local philanthropists Don and Jerry Oleson made a $1.1 million donation to the nonprofit, which enabled it to quickly make the purchase.
The majority of township planning commissioners supported the plan during Tuesday's meeting.
"Given the layout of the property I think it kind of makes sense," said Daniel Leonard, who added he's comfortable with everything proposed.
But two township planning commissioners voted against the site plan approval, Secretary Judy Nemitz and Mindy Walters, the representative from the township board.
Nemitz said she wanted to see the site plan include designated parking for larger recreational vehicles that may visit the nature preserve and trailhead, and she also raised concerns about the lifespan of the planned solar array. She argued a township ordinance to address proper disposal of solar panels should be adopted before any such projects are approved.
East Bay Township Board is expected to consider the site plan during an April meeting, officials said.
