‘You are breaking the preserve’
Group floats offer to stop Wellington development
WELLINGTON — A group of property owners in Wellington’s equestrian preserve says it’s ready to offer Mark Bellissimo $25 million to buy Equestrian Village and stop the development of The Wellington North, a luxury residential neighborhood and clubhouse.
The 11th-hour move came as the Village Council prepared to vote Wednesday, Feb. 7 on a series of zoning changes that would allow Bellissimo to proceed with The Wellington North and The Wellington South developments in the 9,000-acre preserve, where growth is limited and high-density developments are barred.
In exchange for permission to build the communities, Bellissimo’s Wellington Lifestyle Partners has offered to build Wellington a new equestrian showground to replace Equestrian Village. It has said it will close the facility if the village denies approval of the two communities.
The move comes nearly 18 months after Bellissimo, who stages the Winter Equestrian Festival in the preserve each year, announced his third attempt to develop land he owns in the area. He has said Wellington risks losing its equestrian industry if the village rejects his plans.
Wellington Lifestyle Partners, the company leading the project for Bellissimo, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the offer on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Its directors, Doug McMahon and Paige Bellissimo, have said Wellington Lifestyle Partners would
build the six homes currently allowed on the land if Wellington rejects their plans.
The council voted 4-1 in December to approve the project on a first reading, but some members said their vote was conditional on Wellington Lifestyle Partners making changes to its plans and agreeing to a list of conditions. A document listing the finalized conditions was expected to be ready for the council to consider Wednesday.
Wellington Village council posed to hold final vote on Bellissimo projects this week
In many ways, Equestrian Village is the key parcel in Wellington Lifestyle Partners’ plans for the preserve. It is among 96 acres Wellington would remove from the preserve to allow the project to proceed. If so, it would be the first time the village takes land out of the preserve, and critics of the project fear it would set a precedent.
Council members said in previous meetings the plans by Wellington Lifestyle Partners were the only option to ensure dressage would continue to have a home in the area and that it was their only chance to grow the equestrian industry, as nobody else had offered to buy or operate the venue.
A group of families sent a letter to the village on Monday, Feb. 5, offering to buy the Adequan Global Dressage venue along South Shore Boulevard near Pierson Road to preserve and enhance it instead of removing it from the equestrian preserve to develop a luxury neighborhood.
The group of investors includes longtime property owners such as Victoria McCullough, Scott Swerdlin, Robin Parsky, Beth Johnson, Terri Kane, Betsy Juliano and Dave and Ariene Page.
“We realize that this is near the end of the reviewing process of Wellington North and South, yet we respectfully request that you pause those considerations until you understand the option we put before you,” read the letter. “It is a great opportunity to respect the preserve and passionate supporters therein.”
While the council would not open Wednesday’s meeting to public comment, interested groups who did not receive a chance to make their final statements at the council’s last series of meetings were able to speak. Some of them were expected to raise the $25 million offer at that time.
For Wellington North, Wellington Lifestyle Partners is proposing to build
The council voted 4-1 in December to approve the project on a first reading, but some members said their vote was conditional on Wellington Lifestyle Partners making changes to its plans and agreeing to a list of conditions.
49 single-family homes, 47 townhomes and a private country club on the current sites of Equestrian Village and the White Birch Polo Club.
For The Wellington South, Wellington Lifestyle Partners is seeking to build 107 luxury homes on 290 undeveloped acres at South Shore and Lake Worth Road.
In exchange for removing the 96 acres, Wellington Lifestyle Partners is promising to relocate the facilities in Equestrian Village to new, expanded showgrounds at Wellington International.
Wellington property owners offer $25 million to buy Bellissimo’s Equestrian Village
Opponents of the proposals say an approval will set a precedent for land to come out of the village’s equestrian preserve and lead to the demolition of Equestrian Village.
“You are breaking the preserve,” said Ariene Page, a dressage rider and equestrian trainer. “Then, everything else will go.”
Page, who owns 10 acres in the preserve, said the group of investors came together after the January council meeting because they felt council members were ignoring the pleas from residents and the recommendations of the village boards to table the residential projects until there was a vetted horse show application.
The group says Equestrian Village is a well-established venue that features a unique Derby Field and facilities for hunters and jumpers that should not be torn down and removed from the preserve to build townhomes and a country club with golf amenities.
“It’s truly a gem,” Page said of Equestrian Village. “Instead, we can maintain this for guaranteed into the future?”
Page said some of the investors were people who financially supported Bellissimo over 10 years ago when he opened Equestrian Village. The group says they are appreciative of Bellissimo’s investments in the showgrounds but they believe the venue needs major improvements and has the potential of becoming safer with changes to its layout and operations.
“Why can’t we work together to make that better?” Page said. “We don’t have to be living cheek by jowl to make that work.”