Winding Trail spurs passions

“How big is the Winding Trail project to Wellington residents?”

I posed that question in a story a couple of months ago.

At the time, the answer was enough that more than 30 people spoke at a 41/2-hour Planning, Zoning and Adjustment Board meeting.

Wellington residents packed the council chambers on Dec. 13 for a marathon meeting on the controversial plan for nine large lot equestrian estates including barns, owner’s apartments and living quarters.

The most surprising thing to me wasn’t the nearly sixhour meeting nor the passionate speeches on both sides of the issue.

Dozens of people not only stayed to make their plea to the council — many sat in Village Hall until after 12:30 a.m. the next day on a work night to wait for the vote.

For better or worse, that really shows how much peo- Matt Morgan ple care about this issue. I’ve been in Village Hall past midnight once before, but for the final three hours it was just the council and the people paid to be there.

Several people looked like they were going to fall asleep at the meeting and some might have even dozed off, but they stayed.

And the council certainly took note of that dedication from the community.

Mayor Anne Gerwig even voted against what she identified as a beautiful project because it didn’t get enough support from the community.

People had complained through the process that they thought the advisory boards weren’t really listening to their concerns, just pushing it through on the recommendations of staff.

It seemed pretty clear last week that the council was listening.

To the developer’s credit, Ward Real Estate was flexible, as it has been throughout the entire process. Jim Ward was addressing council concerns and even tentatively agreeing to make big changes — like lowering the number of stalls on each lot — after midnight.

The team has held group meetings and one-on-one conversations with anyone who wants to talk to them, making changes along the way based on feedback from the residents.

The plans must get state approval before coming back to the Village Council for a second vote in late January at the earliest.

Normally, the council will pass development projects and other issues on the second reading, but this one is a little different.

Multiple council members said they aren’t just going to rubber stamp the project on the second reading if some minor issues aren’t worked out. Gerwig said she won’t vote for it without more buy-in from the neighbors.

It has been a long process to get here, and it’s not over yet.