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Commission approves private indoor riding arena for Martins with conditions
Summary
The planning commission approved a conditional-use permit allowing David and Jody Martin to build a 9,000-square-foot private indoor riding arena and associated structures on a Spring Lake Township parcel, with 17 combined staff and township conditions covering manure management, wetlands, buffers and future use restrictions.
The Scott County Planning Advisory Commission approved a conditional-use permit for David and Jody Martin to build a private indoor riding arena and associated barn and storage on a Spring Lake Township property.
Associate planner Nathan Hall presented the proposal: a 9,000-square-foot building that includes a 4,800-square-foot arena, about 1,200 square feet of stalls and roughly 3,000 square feet of storage/hobby space. The applicants said the structure is intended for private family use and for no more than four horses. The proposal includes a manure management plan that would compost on site and, if compost exceeds on-site needs, transfer material to an identified local farmer that agreed to accept it.
Jody Martin described the proposal as a family‑oriented facility to allow year-round riding and training for their children and said neighbors they contacted were supportive. “We’re just hoping to ride our horses all year long and… spend time with our family,” she said.
Spring Lake Township representatives and several commissioners raised questions about long-term implications: permitting a large, nonconforming building runs with the land, so future owners could face limits on reuse if the building ceases to function as a private riding arena. Township members emphasized conditions intended to reduce visual impact (tall vegetative buffers) and to limit outdoor storage visible from public roads. Commissioners and staff also discussed the county’s productive‑acreage rules (first horse = 2 acres, each additional horse = 1 acre) and said management plans can mitigate acreage constraints.
Staff recommended approval with the township’s recommended conditions; the commission adopted a motion to approve the CUP with the combined set of 17 conditions. The motion carried by voice vote.
What happens next: the permit includes conditions (wetland protections, erosion controls, septic protection and limits on future non‑equine uses). Staff will monitor compliance and the conditions will travel with the permit if the property is sold.
