Commission Drafts Land Lease for Community Stable
By Karen Gould

This Mackinac Horsemen's Association map shows the location of the community stable project being proposed by the group. It is seeking to lease the land from the Mackinac Island State Park Commission.

A community stable to accommodate up to 20 horses is being planned for approximately three acres of Mackinac Island State Park land. The Mackinac Horsemen's Association will build the public facility if it can work out a lease with the Mackinac Island State Park Commission. A lease is now under review by the Michigan Attorney General and is expected to be presented at the commission's September 20 meeting.

Commissioners said they liked the idea when they met Friday, July 20, at Fort Mackinac, although some are concerned about possible contamination at the site, which was used 40 years ago by the City of Mackinac Island to incinerate garbage.

The Horsemen's Association wants to provide corrals and stalls for public use and provide a place for the 4-H program and stalls for the association's 10 horses, which it keeps for horseback riding lessons and use by Island children. The proposed stable will also have an apartment for a full-time caretaker.

About 50 students participate in the 4-H program, the association reports, and the nonprofit group conducts about 400 riding lessons each summer.

Horses are now stabled at a barn on Mission Hill, owned by the Chambers family. A corral there, owned by Robert G. Benser, will eventually be converted to a three-unit site condominium, and when that happens, the exercise yard will be much reduced, so the Horsemen's Association has been seeking land for a new home.

"We have nowhere to go," said Steve Rilenge, a Horsemen's Association board member who addressed commissioners July 20.

A community stable, he added, will attract families to Mackinac Island, which bans motorized vehicles but which has little private land available for housing horses.

The land the association wants to lease from the state park is an old city incinerator site just west of Harrisonville, and access to it would be from the ends of Fifth and Seventh streets.

The commission, which manages 83% of the land on Mackinac Island, leases land reluctantly, but the Horsemen's Association has argued that it cannot obtain private land else- where, since health laws and zoning prohibit stables in close proximity to dwellings.

"The leasing of state park land is a very, very serious consideration," Park Director Phil Porter reminded the group. "We have a mission of responsibility of preserving, protecting these resources."

Nevertheless, he and several of the commissioners have been working with the Horsemen's Association to locate a suitable piece that would provide easy access to residents and not compromise the integrity of the park. The old incinerator site complied.

Commissioner Frank Kelley said a public stable fits right in with the Island's ban of automobiles.

"Mackinac Island," he said, "is probably one of the few places in the United States where the automobile is not king. Historically, if there was a place where the horse should be king, I think it should be here.

"We should do anything to encourage equestrian development, not only for the Island, but it would be of interest statewide."

Park staff supports the lease, Mr. Porter said, because it will be for recreation and public use, which is consistent with the commission's mission.

The community stable, he added, would benefit yeararound residents, cottagers, and visitors. The commission leases land for other recreational uses, such as Wawashkamo Golf Club and Great Turtle Park.

"This project," he said, "provides a meaningful and concrete means by which the commission can continue its efforts to protect and preserve Mackinac Island's unique horse culture."

Commissioners cited soil contamination concerns as they discussed the proposal presented by Mr. Rilenge, one of several Horsemen's Association members who attended the meeting.

Commissioner Father Jim Williams, while stating he is in favor of a public stable, said he has long had concerns over the environmental safety of Great Turtle Park and is also concerned about the potential impact on public health if the old incinerator site is used.

He cited a high incidence of cancer on Mackinac Island.

"Does there have to be an environmental study over this?" he asked fellow commissioners. "If there is, I wonder if we would pass it."

Armand Horn, a city alderman who attended the commission meeting, said he thought there is a lot of metal, garbage, and horse waste still buried on the property.

"It wasn't all incinerated," he said.

The land would have to be checked, he added, so a horse or person would not be hurt by any metal pieces that might remain.

If it can obtain a lease, Mr. Rilenge said, the Horsemen's Association would begin fundraising, and then test the site prior to construction. He stressed that the fundraising would have to come first, however.

In addition to soil testing, the group plans to cut the tall grass to see what is on the parcel.

The association would take responsibility for cleaning the site, he told commissioners, and environmental clearance would precede any construction.

Mr. Porter said other land could be made available, although the site near Harrisonville offered the least "destruction of forest."

"This is a place that made sense," he said, "because it is already cleared and it needs reclamation, and the size fits the size of the required need."

Mr. Porter noted that language would be included in the lease that stipulates the Horsemen's Association is responsible for any environmental work needed before the site could be used.

Members of the Horsemen's Association community stable project include Leanne Brodeur, Jennifer Bloswick, Bart Huthwaite, Patricia Martin, Marta Olson, Jim Reitman, Mr. Rilenge, Dan Wightman, Brad Chambers, Jane Manoogian, Sandra Row, and Kim Kolatski.

The Horsemen's Association board is comprised of Executive Director Leanne Brodeur, President Candice Dunnigan, Vice President Catherine Arbib, Treasurer Michelle Stuck, Secretary Patricia Martin, Correspondence Secretary Lin Sheppard, Maryanke Alexander, Marta Olson, and Mr. Rilenge.