Will Kasson Planning Commission allow motorbike events on farmland?

Photo courtesy of Michigan Spring Enduros

Contentious debate fills Township Hall tonight; riders invited to flood meetings

By Jacob Wheeler

Sun editor

Voices both in favor and against a proposed motorbike race on Memorial Day weekend on rural farmland in Leelanau County’s Kasson Township will flood the Solon Township Hall tonight, May 8, and on May 15. The Kasson Planning Commission moved these special meetings to Solon to accommodate larger crowds.

A Kasson neighborhood association opposed to a Michigan Sprint Enduros motorbike event on Sunday, May 28, has 70 members and has hired Kristyn Houle, an environmental land use lawyer based in Traverse City. In turn, the motorbike community called on Facebook last week for riders anywhere to attend and offer comment at the upcoming meetings.

James Schettek and Fran Seymour are the applicants requesting a special use permit to turn five parcels of farmland at the northeast corner of Kasson and Bright roads into a motorbike racetrack both through the woods and on open terrain, as well as a campground. They estimate attracting 200 riders and another 50-100 family or friends.

The permit calls for a daylong event on May 28. Schettek told the Glen Arbor Sun that, if the special use permit is approved, races would more than likely be held twice a year, with a maximum of four times a year. The race is also advertised on the Michigan Sprint Enduros website, though the Planning Commission has not yet granted approval.

The Planning Commission could decide at next week’s meeting to approve or deny the motorbike event request, said zoning administrator Tim Cypher. With one commissioner recusing himself due to a conflict of interest (he is related to Schettek), three of the remaining four commissioners must greenlight the permit for the event to move forward.

Schettek described the race as a recreational event on agricultural property. He said bike trails through the woods would be 30 inches wide—bike handlebar width—with minimal impact to the forest.

“When we ride on state trails in Grand Traverse County, you can’t tell the different between where motorcycles ride and where horses the ride.”

But vocal opponents disagree with Schettek’s assertion of minimal environmental impact.

“The special use permit does not respect the property’s current agricultural zoning or the intentions of the Kasson Township Zoning Master Plan. Granting the request endorses this venture as a commercial enterprise,” said Mike Verschaeve, whose family owns property nearby.

“The overwhelming majority of those with property contingent to the site, that is within 1,000 feet, are opposed to the motorcycle racing event. These include noise, environmental impact, traffic, fire danger and the precedent of allowing a commercial enterprise in a neighborhood zoned agricultural.

Concerned resident Marvin Grahn said the track would also run along Solon Township, potentially affecting their residents. “We feel that those people in Kasson and adjacent townships affected are only ones who should have a say in this—not motorcyclists from elsewhere in the state.” Noise is a big issue, he added. “With as many as 200 bikes running at one time, there’s no way they will be able to control the decibel level.”

Houle, the Kasson neighborhood association’s attorney, wrote in a statement that the proposed special land use “is not allowed under the Forested zoning district … it is not harmonious with the existing character of the general vicinity. Public comment from those surrounding the proposed location have stated that the noise, fumes, dust and traffic issues related to this proposed commercial event will not be harmonious with the character of the general vicinity—which is a quiet, tranquil, residential and farming community.”

Schettek, a fifth-generation Kasson resident whose family has donated land to the Leelanau Conservancy, counters that the opposition to his Memorial Day weekend motorbike race are peddling false information and have “misled and misunderstand what we’re trying to do.

“This is not a business, not a moneymaker. I’m doing this for the love of the sport. I’m doing this to give the kids some place to go.”

Times have changed in Leelanau since his childhood, he said.

“We used to be able to crisscross neighbors’ properties across the County when we were younger. Now people put up fences. I was told ‘Go get your own property.’ So I did that.”