Background: The Cedar Lane Conservancy was formed in 1990 when former neighborhood resident Bob McMurtrie sold 17.5 acres of land that he had bought from a nearby farm to a newly formed group of Cedar Lane residents. The land was basically all of the land on the other side of Cedar Lane – “other side” meaning the side across the road form the lake. The primary goal of the Conservancy was quite simply to prevent future development along the rustic Cedar Lane on the south side of the road (opposite the lake), similar to what has occurred on Higgins Lake and others that have row after row of cottages and public access points for residents that are not located directly on the lake.
It seems that there was a point in time when a particular developer had purchased the rights to complete the development of our (Tonnadoonah) subdivision and started jerking things around a bit. I believe it was felt that he very well might try to add a 2nd row of cottages, so Mr. McMurtrie stepped for the good of all and made sure that didn’t happen. It was a shrewd visionary move on his part. (Our family and the McMurtire’s were both from Midland and with kids of similar ages, and we became good friend with them based on the summers we spent up north with our cottages so close together on Cedar Lane.)
And now, for the rest of the story… If you want to read a more detailed (3 page) story about my ill-fated, short term (one year) stint as the President of the Cedar Lane Conservancy, you can click on the link below. I’m not sure that it’s a tear-jerker or that you will double over laughing – likely somewhere in between. The primary point (or lesson, for me at least) was that trailer-trash (like me) best not get uppity with the powerful plantation own- ah, I mean home owners on the lane. I (and the other 2 board members) did exactly that, and it didn’t go so well – at least not for little ol' me that is. Ah life. Now you know the rest of the story (or will if you click on the link). Hal Wolff, Good day! (not Paul Harvey...!)
Most of the 20 acre property owned by the Cedar Lane Conservancy is monitored annually for adherence to the agreed upon usage by the Little Traverse Conservancy out of Petoskey. (2.5 additional acres adjacent to Ferry Road were acquired more recently by the Conservancy from Ken Visser.) Little Traverse helps us manage all of the land except the 2.3 acre border development strip, which is left to the Cedar Lane Conservancy Board (now the HOA Board) to manage.
Little Traverse Conservancy Website
Charlevoix County Advanced Tax Parcel Map (which shows property ownership, size and tax value)
Charlevoix County Advanced Tax Parcel Website