Wellington’s Equestrian Preserve Committee has begun drafting a set of “guiding principles” as it seeks to hone its influence on development questions in horse country, but one phrase is getting the cold shoulder — “equestrian lifestyle.”
Rather than defining it, committee members meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 5 decided at least temporarily to leave out a term that pops up in various village documents intended to help determine what kinds of building are allowed.
“The word should not have been used,” Committee Member Dr. Kristy Lund. “If you can’t define it, it shouldn’t be used.”
Committee Chair Glen Fleischer said the guidelines as a whole will set out what the committee wishes to preserve and protect.
“We’re saying this is an alternate to providing a definition,” he said.
Earlier, Village Engineer Jonathan Reinsvold invited the committee to define the term and help community leaders determine what projects should move forward. The Equestrian Preserve Committee ultimately advises the Wellington Village Council.
“The goal is for the committee to define ‘equestrian lifestyle’ using your expertise,” he said.
For the time being, the committee decided not to go there. Instead, members agreed to revisit the term and review draft wording for its guidelines at its next meeting, tentatively set for Wednesday, March 5.
It’s a topic saddled with plenty of sensitivity as developers press for luxury communities they say serve to enhance the village’s economically critical equestrian sphere, even as critics, many within the horse world, warn it’s a trot down the road to ruin.
The semantics resonate in a village known for its Equestrian Preserve Area, which covers about 9,000 acres. That comes with restrictions aimed at preserving low-density development with an emphasis on the needs and preferences of horse owners, though interpretations of key rules and definitions lie at the heart of significant building plans that could profoundly shape the equestrian area for decades to come.
A 4-1 council vote last year approved the Wellington Lifestyle Partners development plan that removed 96 acres of land from the Equestrian Preserve Area to build a luxury golf community. The Equestrian Preserve Committee voted unanimously against an early version of the plan, but builders argued it was justified by a consolidated and expanded showgrounds, as the overall project sought 203 luxury residences, a hotel, shops, offices and restaurants.
Then came another proposal that is still pending, Isla Carroll. It pitches an equestrian-themed club community, with 35 of its 40 lots hosting homes on as small as a third of an acre each. That is too small for individual homes to have their own barns and stabling, but applicants say they would be served by a community barn, rings and other amenities. The committee voted 7-0 in disapproval, and Wellington’s Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board voted 5-2 to delay consideration in January after applicants said they wanted more time to fine-tune the pitch.
The Equestrian Preserve Committee is working out wording in its guidelines to show support for concepts such as minimum lot sizes, which can be two acres or more in various parts of the equestrian area. Many questions surround “clustered” housing. That is the issue with Isla Carroll, where 40 homes are proposed on roughly 80 acres in the big picture, but most homes are actually bunched on smaller lots.
A “mission statement” for the committee, as the wording stood at its Feb. 5 meeting, attempts to signal what its members consider important.
“The mission of the Equestrian Preserve Committee is to safeguard, enhance and define Wellington’s unique equestrian community and heritage by preserving and protecting land and ensuring the welfare and safety of horses and humans,” the statement read. “Through thoughtful planning, public education, and a commitment to preserve and protect open space and equine infrastructure, the EPC upholds Wellington’s identity as the ‘Equestrian Capital of the World.’”
