The City of Mackinac Island is asking the 11th Circuit Court to dismiss a lawsuit by Shepler’s of Mackinac Island, which is charging the city is violating the company’s equal rights by placing restrictions on its business license for freight operations. A motion for summary disposition is scheduled for April 22 at the Circuit Court, with Judge Charles H. Stark presiding.

Since it granted Shepler’s a business license for its freight operation in 1995, the city has been concerned about safety issues arising when Shepler’s employees load and unload freight from horse-drawn drays on Main Street in front of the company’s Island dock.

In 1995, both parties agreed to restrict hours of operation to avoid traffic congestion. Though it agreed to the restrictions in the beginning, Shepler’s has repeatedly requested the restrictions be eased or removed totally, since it is the only business among more than 270 operating on the Island that has restrictions placed its their license.

Shepler’s, owned by Bill Shepler, with the assistance of his sons, Chris and Bill Jr., contends that the city does not restrict Arnold Transit Company’s freight operation, the Island’s only other boatline freight business. Shepler’s also contends that, according to city ordinance, the city does not possess any clear authority to place restrictions on business licenses.

Last year, the City temporarily denied Shepler’s its freight business license because there were too many complaints of traffic congestion, safety concerns, and abandoned drays on the side of the street. Shepler’s operates both its passenger and freight operation on the Island at the corner of Main Street and Hoban Avenue, a narrow corner at the east end of town that city officials say is the most congested part of downtown during the summer.

The City, after meeting with Shepler’s in April 2003, approved an interim license until both parties can come to an agreement on how Shepler’s freight operation are to be run without causing safety and congestion issues.

The City allows Shepler’s to operate freight deliveries only from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. and from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.