With Wellington, Florida, “at a turning point,” the Village Council faced some hard truths and voted 4-1 Thursday night to take land out of the Equestrian Preserve, the key to enabling development of an expanded showgrounds that would replace the current cramped facility.
“This is a game played in four quarters and overtime,” said Councilman John McGovern, “and we are a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter.”
The Wellington International showgrounds is the focal point of the Village’s reputation as the “Winter Equestrian Capital of the World,” but it needs more land to spread out and offer the amenities necessary to upgrade its standard.
Developer Wellington Lifestyle Partners, headed by Doug McMahon, has agreed to build the badly needed showgrounds expansion on its Wellington South parcel, but only if WLP is permitted to construct a golf community on 96 acres of its Wellington North parcel down the road. That property is designated as part of the 9,000 acres of Preserve that is spread throughout the village.
Many residents who attended council meetings on the development plans over the last three nights consider the Preserve sacrosanct, and felt removing any of the acreage had the potential to create a domino effect precedent that eventually would unravel it.
But the showgrounds situation was made more dire by the revelation Wednesday that Global Equestrian Group, which owns the home of the world-famous Winter Equestrian Festival, is for sale and its future with the facility is a question mark.
An illustration of the expanded showgrounds, complete with derby field and indoor arena.
The vote isn’t the last word on the development situation, because this was only the first reading of the ordinances. The second reading is set for some time in January, when four of the council members must vote in favor of removing land from the Preserve if that is to go forward.
Vice Mayor Michael Napoleone was the lone nay vote on taking land from the Preserve and a change of zoning for Wellington North, but voted with the rest of the council in a unanimous decision involving rezoning land on Wellington South to Equestrian Commercial Recreation where the showgrounds will be expanded to include dressage. That discipline runs at Equestrian Village on Wellington North, and will continue there until work is finished on the expanded showgrounds, with a deadline of Dec. 31, 2028 to complete the project.
While Napoleone noted everyone agrees the horse show needs improvement, he wasn’t comfortable voting for the changes on Wellington North.
“At this time, I still have too many questions about what that future horse show is going to be,” he commented.
“I don’t have enough information about the capital, where the money’s coming from, how this is going to happen.”
He wonders, “Is it the right product? Is it sustainable? Does it make sense for the community? And if it does, then we revisit this, but today I don’t have the information I need to do that.”
A formal application for the showgrounds has yet to be filed, and it will have to go through the hearing process to seek approval.
Addressing those at the meeting who were upset about taking the Wellington North land out of the preserve, Councilman Michale Drahos reminded the crowd, “We don’t own the land that we’re all here talking about.”.
Wellington North not only is the home of dressage, but it also has a grass derby field that is highly regarded by show hunters and jumpers.
“It is owned by a private entity; it is not Wellington’s land,” Drahos pointed out about the North parcel.
“If they decide to shut it down tomorrow, we cannot stop them from doing that. My approach to doing this is not from the standpoint of a hostage, it’s from the standpoint of an opportunist.”
He explained, “If I have a deal on the table that says to me, you have to take out less than 1 percent of the Equestrian Preserve area land to guarantee the future success of equestrian sport, I’m taking the deal. Because that’s what I believe puts us on the most stable ground and not just today, but 50 years into the future.”
There are those who have expressed concern that Mark Bellissimo is involved with WLP, because some felt they had been burned by him in the past.
Drahos gave credit where credit is due, saying, “My kids grew up going to showgrounds that Mark Bellissimo built. It’s not a popular thing to say in a room like this, to speak favorably of what Mark Bellissimo accomplished for our community.”
Drahos referenced a comment by Murray Kessler, the former president of the U.S. Equestrian Federation, made during a hearing on the development issues that Mark Bellissimo is responsible for the explosion of the sport in Wellington.
But Drahos acknowledged, “Mark Bellissimo is out of gas. To his credit, I think he has recognized that what he wishes to accomplish in this town he can’t get done. He’s gone to somebody he thinks can. If we are determined to rely upon the past, we are destined to become an afterthought.”
Council member Tanya Siskind said there is time to make further adjustments, but noted “the applicant has made many concessions, has listened, has made a less dense project. Those who oppose this and those who support it all have at least one thing in common, and that is the show must improve and/or expand. This is the vehicle to get there. I think is protecting our equestrian lifestyle.”
Mayor Anne Herwig likes to say that without the equestrian element, “We’d be Boynton Beach without the beach. This is what sets us apart.”
She added about the showgrounds, “I don’t know a way to save it without some investment. None of this was our investment, it’s all been private investment, but we are the stewards.”
For the previous columns about last week’s hearings on Wellington development, click on this link for the second story and here for the first story.
