Petition: GOREC Adverse Impacts on the Forest Lakes Area

​The Traverse City Rotary-backed GOREC, or Greilick Outdoor Recreation & Education Center, is currently applying for special ordinance trumping powers via a Planned Unit Development (PUD) application. Their expanded use requests include, but are not limited to, the creation of an event center that would allow for:

• 30 large-sized special events with up to 500 guests each, including 12 summer weddings, each with up to 300 guests. In addition to weddings, these events would include races, retreats, reunions, graduations, ceremonies, and celebrations.
• 50 mid-sized, year-round events, with up to 100 guests for similar event types.
• A full campground with over 300 guests and potential capacity of over 600.
• With shuttles, buses, and trolleys shuttling these many thousands of guests around.
• And 60 public boats launching on Rennie Lake on any given day, all carrying the risk of dangerously irreversible aquatic invasive species to our Forest Lakes.

The full text of the application and its scope can be found here. For obvious reasons, events and Places of Public Assembly such as these are not allowed in this area per the East Bay Township Zoning Ordinance. They run contrary to the low-intensity, rural, natural preservation intent of our district and its future land use plan. This application is GOREC's path around our laws. Our concerns are with this application's irreversible and outsized impact on our community, safety, and environment.