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Board grants temporary variance for four horses at 166 Rhode Island Road with manure and nontransferability conditions
Summary
The Board of Health approved a new stable permit and a variance to keep four horses at 166 Rhode Island Road on a temporary, conditional basis. The permit requires covered manure storage with biweekly removal, limits transferability, and ties permanent grandfathering to two horses under town rules.
The Town of Lakeville Board of Health on Wednesday approved a new stable permit for 166 Rhode Island Road and granted a variance to keep four horses on the property, subject to conditions and a temporary limit tied to the current animals.
Owner Morgan Long and co-applicant Stephanie Miranda explained the request, saying the four horses are a herd that historically have been kept together. Long said neighbors were consulted in advance and that manure would not be stored on-site but taken away. "These 4 horses come together. They are a herd together," Long said. She told the board she had met individually with neighbors and sent formal notices.
The board questioned lot size and the town's stable regulations, which set minimum lot-area thresholds for two or three horses and authorize the board to review requests for additional animals. Board members said they had historically been cautious about granting variances that increase the number of animals on small lots and discussed the risk of establishing a transferable precedent. The applicant supplied design and site information, including a plan to place a covered dumpster for manure near an internal gate and to remove manure on a regular schedule.
The board approved the permit on a condition that the variance to keep four horses be temporary and limited to the life of the animals currently on-site, that manure be stored in a covered container and removed every two weeks, and that the property be grandfathered only for two horses consistent with the town's stable regulations for future transfers. Inspector Jared and board staff confirmed they had reviewed the site and will set conditions in the permit that include shelter standards and waste management.
The motion passed with aye votes. The board recorded that the permit will require the owner to notify the health department before bringing animals onto the site and that final occupancy of the paddock or shelter is contingent on meeting the inspector's conditions.
