One man’s vision for Wellington, as detailed in the Feb. 22 Town-Crier, was a vision created after Wellington came into existence.
I purchased a lot in this community in 1976 and built my home in early 1977. At that time, the “Wellington community development” was owned by Alcoa Breakwater and the vision was to create a golf community, not a horse community. Then the money came to town and with it came the wealthy people who like to control things, including politicians.
The equestrian community in all its forms has done great things for this community but now we need to find the way to channel greed and control to constructive community development that satisfies all our residents’ egos and meets the needs of the community at large.
Joseph Manning
Wellington
Wellington was swamp when C. Oliver Wellington purchased 18,000 acres. Whether he knew it or not at the time of his purchase, his land became a gold mine within a few short years when Florida created the Acme Drainage District and drained the land. As a result Mr. Wellington made millions by planting a strawberry patch on his land.
In 1995 Wellington was incorporated and had a few shopping centers and restaurants. If the concept was for a golfing community that idea was obviously a bad one because if you look around you will see overgrown putting greens and applications to convert golf courses into residential and commercial uses.
You might also argue that it was Wellington’s greed that actually ended up in the creation of a world class equestrian community that three members of the current Wellington Village Council are trying to dismantle. Are their motives altruistic? You tell me.