Equestrian Proposal Wrong For Land Bank Property

To the editor: It is with mixed emotions that we received the withdrawal of the 41 Milestone - Milestone Stables proposal at the August 11 meeting of the Nantucket Land Bank Commission. While we were very pleased with Mr. Worden’s withdrawal, we remain skeptical and guarded that Mr. Worden is planning on re-introducing the proposal in the future. He said more than once that “this is not the right time."

We would like to thank the commissioners present at the meeting for stating that they were opposed to the proposal and would have voted against it had it not been withdrawn.

The people who spoke out against the proposal at the meeting were not against an equestrian center, but all felt this was not the correct place for it. The fact that Mr. Worden did not publicly state that he would consider a different piece of property would seem to indicate that he was in search of an alternative entrance to the private Hensdale Club he is building. There is plenty of open space on the island where an equestrian facility could be built that would not be adjacent to populated neighborhoods.

As stated in the petition, the property in question is a multi-use site used by walkers, runners, bikers, dog walkers, and families. It is utilized by year-round residents, summer residents, and visitors. This summer, while walking on the trails, which we do at least two times each day, we came across a group of young boys, approximately 8-12 years of age, along with their two camp counselors. They were riding their bikes along the trails and had stopped to pick wild blueberries. The excited, amazed look on their faces was priceless.

Mr. Worden appeals to the emotions of everyone by stating that the center would offer therapeutic services for island residents. He did not state how many island residents are in need of such services, nor what the cost of such services would be. In researching what these services cost I found that the unsubsidized cost ranges from $135/lesson to $250/lesson across MA. Mr. Worden does not indicate who would be subsidizing the lessons at the proposed Center. Another Nantucket fundraiser perhaps? The $2.5 million donation from the Hensdale Club reminds me of handing an island business a $100 bill and having them say to me “oh, a Nantucket $10." I believe it was Neil Paterson that said at one point they would need more like $20 million. We believe even that would fall short.

While Mr. Worden likes to focus on the therapeutic nature of the proposed equestrian center, I did not hear him say anything about contacting the Nantucket S.T.A.R Program for their input.

As we said at the outset, we are very pleased with the outcome but wary of additional attempts to access this particular piece of land.

Thank you again for your support to preserve this property as a public, multi-use facility.

With great gratitude,

E. Skip Ahneman
Lucia T. Ahneman