About the equestrian hotel plan ...

The questions about Mark Bellissimo’s condo-hotel proposal are starting to swirl around Wellington and the village is now working to get out ahead of the narrative.

Among the critical questions from the public:

■ Why is the village considering this after the people said they didn’t want it?

■ Why doesn’t council put a stop to this now?

■ Why hasn’t the public been able to speak at previous committee meetings as part of the record? The list goes on. Wellington Village Manager Paul Schofield has been sending out an email with more information to residents who ask questions. The village is also working on adding more information to an FAQ page about this project.

The applications are very complex, but some of these questions can be answered pretty simply.

Yes, the people voted about 60 percent to 40 percent in 2016 to ban hotels, motels, condo-hotels and Matt Morgan apartments from the equestrian preserve.

So why is the village even considering this now? It doesn’t have a choice.

Bellissimo is asking to build a 100-room condohotel and 72 condos on his property at the International Polo Club. That’s not allowed now. It wasn’t allowed before the charter amendment, and it’s not allowed after.

But he is allowed to ask. And the village staff and ultimately the village council are required to listen.

His proposal to remove the Polo Club from the equestrian preserve and change the zoning is possible under Wellington’s laws. He needs four votes to take the property out of the preserve, but if he gets them, he can do it.

Any resident of any municipality can petition government for things that are allowed under their laws, and the government must hear them out.

The proposal is still in the very early stages. After it didn’t pass the Palm Beach County traffic standards it was sent back to the very first step.

People were upset when they were told at the last Planning, Zoning and Adjustment Board meeting they weren’t allowed to speak on the record about the project because it was delayed for a second straight meeting, but that shouldn’t be a problem again.

Wellington is going to make sure the project is ready this time, so people will be able to speak on the record in future meetings.

After it passes the traffic requirements, goes through the Equestrian Preserve Committee and the Planning, Zoning and Adjustment Board, only then will the council be able to make a ruling.

They’ll listen to Bellissimo’s team, they’ll listen to the village staff and they’ll listen to the people before making any decision.

That day likely won’t come until August or September.

Everyone will have a day to pitch why this should or shouldn’t be allowed. And the council can’t make any judgments until everyone has weighed in.