By ABIGAIL HASEBROOCK | ahasebroock@sunsentinel.com | South Florida Sun Sentinel
February 12, 2024
After nearly two years of postponements, hours of late-night meetings and adamant protests, a proposal to rezone nearly 100 acres of Wellington’s equestrian preserve will move forward.
The Wellington Village Council voted on Wednesday to approve a proposal pitched by developer Wellington Lifestyle Partners, which, among other things, will bring residential development to the village’s equestrian preserve, an about 9,000-acre swath of land.
Wellington Lifestyle Partners, or WLP, is the applicant behind the project. The executive vice president and partner is Paige Bellissimo-Nunez, the daughter of Mark Bellissimo, who is behind some of the most prominent equestrian venues in the country. The CEO and managing partner is Douglas McMahon.
The project primarily consists of two components: the north and south parcel, named The Wellington North and The Wellington South.
The Wellington North is the piece of the project requiring the rezoning of 96 acres of the village’s equestrian preserve area to build 49 single family homes and 47 townhomes. The Wellington South would bring 107 home sites, five of which will be farms with the rest being custom home lots, to the village.
About a year ago, WLP’s request included nearly 500 residential units and condominium buildings, which garnered strong pushback, McMahon said.
“(Residents said) ‘You don’t understand Wellington,’ and we listened, and we modified our plans quite dramatically,” McMahon said in an interview with the Sun Sentinel. “If you look at 203 residential dwelling units over the 270 acres, it’s less than one unit per acre.”
The project also includes plans to improve the village’s current equestrian showgrounds by building a new Derby field and Dressage facilities and eventually constructing a Main Street with a luxury boutique hotel, six restaurants and about 24 shops along with office space and a town park.
The Main Street element is separate from the plan approved on Wednesday and will have to go before the council to be approved in the future.
The new and improved showgrounds, though, are expected to be completed in the next two years. One of the conditions of approval is the showgrounds must be finished first before WLP can move on to residential construction, McMahon said.
WLP is also donating more than 50 acres off Forest Hill Boulevard in the village to become a central park.
“That will be a village asset,” McMahon said. “And we’ve committed to contribute the first $2 million of philanthropic support to help make that a wonderful central park for everybody in Wellington to enjoy.”
In the about three months leading up to the final vote, McMahon said the modifications made to the proposal were “nuance changes,” such as putting in more hedges or trees.
“We did some little things that are really important to people that allowed us to demonstrate that we’re a collaborator and a better neighbor,” he said.
Despite the adjustments, the plans long struck a chord with many Wellington residents mainly because no developer has endeavored to rezone a portion of the equestrian preserve before, perpetuating a fear about setting a precedent for other developers to come along and execute similar plans.
Meanwhile, WLP maintained the plan would do nothing but benefit the village and strengthen its prominent equine culture.
The final vote is consistent with the initial vote taken in November where the council advanced the project as it did on Wednesday.
In January, opponents to the project continued to execute efforts to curb its advancement with campaigns such as “Horses Not Houses” attempting to generate more signatures on a petition against the proposal.
Maureen Brennan, a more than 30-year Wellington resident and creator of the petition, said in an interview with the Sun Sentinel in January before the meeting that the WLP plan opens the door for other developers to try enacting similar plans, even though the council argued each development application has its own merit.
“When even one acre comes out, I know the direction it goes,” she said. “It is precedent setting, there’s no doubt.”
The pushback was to show the council how much people care about the project’s impact, she said.
“They’re (the council) the ones responsible for potentially changing Wellington forever, and not in a good way,” Brennan said.
But Wellington Mayor Anne Gerwig denied the notion that the approval would set some slippery precedent.
“I do not believe this coming out of the preserve will bring forth any other properties coming out,” she said during the meeting.
Renderings of Wellington Lifestyle Partners' project, which was presented to the village council on Feb. 7 where it was approved in a final vote. (Courtesy of Wellington Lifestyle Partners)
Bellissimo-Nunez said in an interview with the Sun Sentinel that she sees the project, specifically the ability to boost the showgrounds, as an “unique opportunity” with the potential to benefit the next generation of horse riders.
“That’s the only reason that I decided to be involved,” she said. “I’m an equestrian. And for me, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really be able to help shape the future of the community that I care so much about and really grow equestrian sport and modernize it.”