It’s back to the drawing board yet again for the proposed Isla Carroll development in Wellington, Fla., which eked out a 3-2 approval from the Village Council on first reading Monday night.
But both Mayor Michael Napoleone and Councilman John McGovern, who reluctantly voted in favor of the plan, indicated they would not vote for it on second reading next month without changes to make the project more in keeping with requirements of the municipality’s Equestrian Overlay Zoning District.
The original plan for the property presented last year called for using the 24-stall stable on site for animals that included rescue horses and offered a wide-ranging group of disciplines, from endurance to jumpers, that was wildly unrealistic. After the Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board indicated it would reject the project, it was withdrawn.
It returned as a Planned Unit Development with forty 0.43-acre homesites, a country club with a gym, restaurant and pool, and a polo field, one of two located on the property at the moment. A 31.22-acre club/equestrian amenity pod would have 17.24 acres devoted to equestrian facilities. (The deteriorated 24-stall stable would be torn down.)
Under an agreement between property owner Frank McCourt, one of the founders of the show jumping Global Champions Tour, developer Discovery Land Company and the U.S. Polo Association, the latter would pay a $1 annual fee for a 45-year lease of the field (with a 10-year renewal option).
Isla Carroll is adjacent to the National Polo Center, which can handle overflow parking. NPC has polo matches on Sunday afternoons; Isla Carroll would host matches on Friday evenings. The agreement gives USPA scheduling control of the polo field during every polo season, as well as control of tournaments and training on the field, which it will maintain.
If the property were subdivided today without the polo plan, it would permit 40 homesites at a minimum of two acres each.
McCourt, a resident of Wellington for more than 10 years, told the council, “When I bought Isla Carroll, I had no idea what I was going to do with it. What I did know was that I did not want to see another soulless subdivision in my community…that wouldn’t benefit the equestrian sport.”
Frank McCourt speaking at the meeting.
Prior to voting, McGovern said, “To me, there’s not common equestrian amenities. I don’t know how we can have an equestrian development that doesn’t have horses. For me, the way this project would be improved into what I think is an equestrian development, would be for example…if there were five farms plus the homes, that would start to move us in a direction of this being an equestrian development. What would a polo community actually look like? We’re still sort of left with a polo field and country club.”
He added, “I don’t feel like there’s a full community buy-in as to what either the community gets, or what the residents are going to actually get here.
“For us to approve an equestrian development, it has to be about the residents who are going to live in it And then how those residents and how that equestrian community is going to become symbiotic into the equestrian portion of Wellington.
“Every resident board that has looked at this has found it to be woefully insufficient,” noted the councilman, referring to the Equestrian Preserve Committee and the Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board, both of which rejected the plan.
In voting no, Councilwoman Maria Antuña said, “The project sounds more like a resort-type project. I don’t feel this is truly what the equestrian represents for the equestrian community.”
Also voting no was Councilwoman Amanda Silvestri, who said “if we approve a project like this, I believe it would change the essence of Wellington forever.”
Deputy Mayor Tanya Siskind voted in favor of the plan, saying the project “could continue to grow the sport of polo in Wellington.”
The Council heard from dozens of residents, both pro and con, either by public statements during the meeting or via cards that stated their preference and in some cases, their thoughts.
Sarah Goos, a member of the Equestrian Preserve Committee, is not in favor of the project.
Speaking during the meeting, she expressed concern that residents would get tired of the noise from the polo matches and the odor of manure, with the possibility that public access to polo matches eventually would be limited. She had witnessed a situation like that in Long Island’s Hamptons.
On the other hand, Goos continued, “Two-acre lots are highly desirable in Wellington and well-suited for equestrian farms. This amount of land allows for a residence, private barn, paddocks and a riding ring. Exactly what the zoning is intended for.
“McCourt and Discovery could still maintain the polo field and build fewer homes, if the polo field is truly significant to them, as they say. What they are proposing is a non-equestrian country club, which does not meet the criteria of the LDR (land development regulations).”
Robin Parsky, a prominent owner of show jumpers, said she wants to be very supportive of the project because “this is about enhancing a big, beautiful grass field, which is exactly what we want to have here in Wellington and will be very beneficial to the equestrian community as a whole.”
She also mentioned that Discovery is “quality” and “user friendly, family friendly, equestrian friendly…they know what they’re doing.”