Use of Caves Land Hotly Debated Thursday Evening

IRONWOOD, MI - Friday, June 26, 2009 - Last night a sizable crowd gathered in the Women's Club Room of the Ironwood Memorial Building to discuss the possible uses of the "Caves" area. Prior to the meeting, Community Development Director Dan Petersen pointed out the objective - "To come to a consensus on the uses of the "Caves" area where and how those uses should occur, and how to integrate those uses with others in the City.

The meeting began innocently enough, as Petersen began listing the possible uses that were established at a City Commission Work Session back in May. The list began with: trails; heritage/history/monument to miners; snowshoeing; cross-country skiing; snowmobiling; mountain biking; deer hunting; and ATV's. As each of the first uses were named, various audience members discussed their desires to see the land used for their particular interests.

Everything seemed to be going fairly well until Petersen asked if the silent sports and the motorized sports could both utilize the land in harmony. At first, both sides of the issue tried to show that they were willing to cooperate and compromise. But as the discussion continued, the debate became rather heated.

The "Caves" are abandoned mining land. At one time the entire area was cleared to allow for mining operations. Nearly every tree in the area was removed. After the mines closed down, the land was left to be recaptured by nature. Today the land is a nicely wooded, beautiful greenspace.  For years, local four-wheel and snowmobile enthusiasts have used the land as an access route to designated trails. According to City Ordinance, however, operating these vehicles on City-owned land and City streets is illegal, unless they have been specifically designated for that purpose.

Most "baby boomer" residents, as kids, have biked, hiked and explored the property -- mostly without their parents knowledge or consent. To most area children, the "Caves" was off limits due to the fact that the land is filled with mine shafts. Nearly every kid in the neighborhood played on the property or at least used it as a shortcut to get from neighborhood to neighborhood. Today, many people walk the trails; ride their mountain bikes; walk their dogs; and hike in the area.

Most of the people at last night's meeting want the land to be used for silent sports (non-motorized trails), yet the motorized sports enthusiasts favor using the land for ATV's and snowmobiles. Both tend to agree that a Miners Memorial Heritage Park is good idea.

While there is room for compromise, emotions ran high as the topic of shared use was explored. The motorized sports enthusiasts believe that it is their right to continue to use the land as they have been doing for years. Many non-motorized supporters question that logic, considering their use of the land was in direct violation of City Ordinances.

Some believe that both motorized and non-motorized trails can co-exist with few problems. Others fear, however, that the motorized users will not stay on their designated trails, making the other trails hazardous for non-motorized use. The potential economic impact of both uses was also debated. Motorized trail users believe that the ATV's and snowmobiles bring in a lot of money to the area, and there  were those in attendance that questioned those claims. After considerable debate over the shared use issue, Dan Petersen then brought up a topic that was just as controversial.

Should any of the "Caves" area be developed? For several years, local businessman Jerry Pisani has been trying to purchase a piece of property along Ayer Street (across the street from the Industrial Park's Easy Street) to build a commercial storage facility. Former Community Development Director Pat Merrill suggested the land to Pisani for the project. Pisani met several stumbling blocks in his quest to purchase the property, however.

First of all, the land is zoned "open" and as such it is virtually useless to any developer. The Planning Commission and the Parks and Recreation Committee both rejected a plan to allow the property to be rezoned. The Parks and Recreation Committee favored using the "open" land for recreational purposed, and they did not favor allowing any portion of the land to be developed.

Secondly, there is the possibility that the land is not suitable for building. With all of the subsidence in the area, many believe that the property will not support any kind of structure.

And finally, the Planning Commission and the City Commission are both divided as to what to do with the property some members of each commission favor development, some don't.

When Petersen brought up the topic, Steve Frank responded with these comments.

"Just to speed things along, how many empty houses do we have in Ironwood? Somewhere between 600 and 1,000. How many empty apartments do we have? Somewhere around 150. How many empty storefronts do we have downtown? About 40% according to the Blueprint plan. How many empty lots are there in our industrial park? Nine? How many empty spots are on our highway? Quite a few! Looking at all that, what new do we need? What don't we have room for? When have we run out of room? We have industrial, we have residential, we have commercial. What more would we need? This land is zoned open. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to keep it zoned open. The City Commission voted to keep it zoned open. This is done! It's been talked about; there have been countless public hearings on it; it's open land! That's it!"

Jerry Pisani responded to Frank's comments by saying that one Planning Commissioner who currently owns storage units was responsible for putting an end to the sale of Ayer Street property to Pisani. Pisani said that the Commissioner didn't want competition to his business.

Steve Frank took offense to Pisani's comments and he defended the former Commissioner. He said his accusations were unfair. He pointed out that the Planning Commission was unanimous in their decision, and that it wasn't only one Commissioner that wanted to leave the land "open." Frank became so upset by Pisani's comments that he left the meeting.

In the end, the public meeting didn't change many attitudes. The City plans on holding another meeting that would have representatives from both the Gogebic Range Trail Authority and the Friends of the Miners Memorial Heritage Park sit down and try to work out a compromise. Several members of both groups stayed after the meeting and discussed possible options that might just be acceptable to both motorized and non-motorized enthusiasts.