Bellissimo’s condo plan approaches final vote
Key parts of equestrian project in Wellington
WELLINGTON — The Village Council is poised to vote this week on Mark Bellissimo’s grandest and riskiest plan to build two luxury communities within Wellington’s equestrian preserve.
Representatives of some of the preserve’s most influential families told the council on Tuesday they didn’t believe Bellissimo’s team could deliver on their promises to construct new, highquality showgrounds if he’s allowed to build The Wellington North and The Wellington South.
Their lawyers said the plans by Wellington Lifestyle Partners (WLP) still had too many unanswered questions, even with the reduction of another two homes from The Wellington South project and allowing the removal of 96 acres from the equestrian preserve, which voters created in 2000.
Attorney Harvey Oyer, who represented Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of Deeridge Farms and the NHL’s Boston Bruins, said the Jacobs family had kept an open mind about the proposals but was still skeptical about the conditions of the deal.
He proposed a “covenant” agreement that would allow nearby property owners to sue WLP if it doesn’t fulfill those conditions.
“It would be our preference to not do any of this. But we understand there are reasons that add value to this community,” Oyer said.
“Should you decide to move in that direction, we want to put enough guardrails and safeguards around this proposal so that we get exactly what was promised to us.”
The meeting on Tuesday was the first of three scheduled for this week; the council will hold a second and final vote on WLP’s plans at 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
The projects are Bellissimo’s third attempt to develop land he owns in the equestrian preserve. His companies failed to win village approval in 2012 and 2016.
Bellissimo did not attend the meeting but his daughter Paige Bellissimo