Palatine Stables seeking permission to construct barn dedicated to hay storage
Palatine Park District's stable operation wants to build the facility's first hay barn that would expand the amount of feed available for horses living on the property and provide other benefits.
Under the park district's plan for Palatine Stables near Northwest Highway and Dundee Road, the 6,000-square-foot storage barn would accommodate up to 12,000 bales of hay, said Superintendent of Facilities Steven Nagle.
"Lots and lots and lots of hay," Nagle said Monday. "The weird thing about hay is, it's not like a product that's like a widget that's on the shelf and ready to go at any point. Hay is grown, and so it's supersensitive to good weather, bad weather. So, sometimes we have to buy hay in bigger quantities because it is available."
Hay no longer would be stored near where district-owned horses and ponies are stabled. He said moving the hay to a dedicated stand-alone building will ensure that sometimes bothersome dust and other elements from the feed won't waft toward the park system's animals.
"It's not only an effort to have bigger space for hay, which is the horses' feed; it's just an additional reason safetywise for the horses' health," Nagle said of the plan.
Palatine zoning board of appeals members are to consider the proposal and a variation request to build the hay barn at a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at village hall, 200 E. Wood St. The advisory panel will make a recommendation to the village council, which has the final say on issues.
Palatine Stables has about 30 privately owned horses boarded there, away from the district-owned animals, Nagle said. The 25 horses and nine ponies owned by the park district are used for riding lessons.
Along with giving the district's horses and ponies relief from the constant presence of hay, the new barn would provide more room for lessons in the Palatine Stables arena with the feed stores elsewhere, officials said. They said the current spot never was meant for hay storage.
Constructed by a private owner in the 1950s, Palatine Stables was acquired by the park district in 1989.
If built, the 6,000-square-foot hay shed would add to a Palatine Stables complex that has a main building and lower barn. The equestrian facility, which specializes in hunters and jumpers, draws visitors for lessons, horse shows, boarding, summer camps, training, pony parties and an annual fall festival.