How Wellington is growing: New equestrian showgrounds headed to Village Council for vote

WELLINGTON — Mark Bellissimo's plans for a new equestrian showgrounds will go up for a vote of the Wellington Village Council next week, before some members who approved his plans to build two luxury communities in the equestrian preserve leave office.

The village's Planning, Zoning and Adjustments Board unanimously approved on Wednesday, Feb. 28, for the new showgrounds to be built on 114 acres at the corner of Gene Mische Way and Gracida Street, directly below the Wellington International horse complex.

The new horse venue would replace the Bellissimo-owned facilities at Equestrian Village for dressage, hunters and jumpers at South Shore Boulevard and Pierson Road, which would close once the new showgrounds open.

The council is scheduled to vote on the plans on Tuesday, March 5, at Village Hall. Mayor Anne Gerwig and council members Michael Drahos and Michael Napoleone will leave office after the March 19 election because of term limits. Napoleone is running to replace Gerwig as mayor.

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A company linked to Bellissimo, Wellington Lifestyle Partners, has won the village's approval to remove the 96 acres encompassing Equestrian Village and the White Birch polo club from the 9,000-acre preserve. It will build one of two luxury communities that the village has approved, called The Wellington North, on the site.

It is the first time the village has allowed a developer to remove land from the preserve, where building is strongly restricted, since its creation more than 20 years ago.

The second community, The Wellington South, would sit along South Shore Boulevard near Wellington Community Park and the new showgrounds, which would replace the facilities on Equestrian Village.

The project marked the third time that Bellissimo, an entrepreneur who has long staged the Winter Equestrian Festival, has proposed significant developments on land he controls in the preserve.

Doug McMahon, the CEO of Wellington Lifestyle Partners, said the new showgrounds are crucial for Wellington to retain its stake in the equestrian industry amidst competition from venues near Ocala and Sarasota.

"Tonight is really about Wellington's future," McMahon said during the Feb. 28 meeting. "Together we're taking steps to ensure it remains the premier horse sport community that we all love."

Paige Bellissimo, who is also leading the project for WLP, said the venue will consolidate all equestrian sports to a "horse-centric zone" that would allow for safer circulation of horses, riders and spectators and also facilitate operations.

Kristy Lund, a member of the village's Equestrian Preserve Committee, said the land promised by Wellington Lifestyle Partners didn't represent a significant expansion from the 59 acres currently available in Equestrian Village.

Of the 114 acres, Wellington International already uses 35 of them which are owned by Global Equestrian Group, a European equestrian investment firm. Another 18 are wetlands, leaving a total of 61 aces for the new showgrounds.

"We gained two acres in this deal," Lund said.

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McMahon told board members that plans for the proposed showgrounds had significantly changed since Wellington Lifestyle Partners first proposed them over a year ago.

At first, Global Equestrian Group had promised to buy the 114 acres to build and operate the new venue, but its commitments fell through. McMahon said WLP decided to keep the land and take on the responsibility of building the new horse venue for a future operator.

McMahon said WLP has hired Populous, an international architecture firm based in Kansas City, to design the venue and has contracted Richard Hayden, an Ireland-based turf specialist, to recreate the derby field.

He added the company had agreed to put a deed on the 114 acres so it could only be used as an equestrian venue for the next 50 years.

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Wellington Lifestyle Partners has agreed to several recommendations issued by the Equestrian Preserve Committee on Feb. 15. They include:

• Fencing between barns and parking areas to contain horses.

• A minimum of 25 feet between competition rings.

• High-quality tents. They may not be to the quality of Wellington International's media center, as suggested by EPC.

• Schooling hours with lighting to begin at 6:30 a.m.

The company didn't agree, however, to the grandest suggestion by the EPC: doubling the number of permanent stalls to 440 from 220.

Paige Bellissimo told board members that Equestrian Village offers 92 permanent stalls and WLP had initially proposed 200, but the village council requested for a total of 220.

Michael Stone, who oversees operations at Wellington International, said that the additional permanent stables weren't needed because dressage riders usually haul their horses.

McMahon said there would also be added costs to building the 220 additional stables.

"We front-loaded a lot more costs onto our development than we did 14 months ago," McMahon said. "So, I'd like to keep it there."

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Lund, who spoke as a member of the public, raised concerns about the permitting and ecological impacts of the landfill currently underway on the 114 acres of the proposed showgrounds.

In a set of posts on social media, native Florida wood storks can be seen standing over rubble and drinking from a pond being drained.

John Fumero, an attorney representing WLP, told board members the company had permits from the South Florida Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fill a portion of the land, known as Pod F.

"There is no unpermitted activity," Fumero said. "The wetland preserve area will stay in its natural state in perpetuity because it is subject to a conservation easement."

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WLP had created a second company, Wellington Lifestyle Partners 2, in which Bellissimo was listed as an owner with McMahon. Lund asked why WLP had made this move after McMahon had told the council Bellissimo would not be in charge of the project.

McMahon said the company was created as a "vehicle" for a future transaction and that Mark Bellissimo's name was removed from the company.

Elizabeth Armstrong, a village resident, sent a card to the meeting opposing the approval.

"There is not enough green space for horses," Armstrong wrote. "It looks like we have lost a huge amount of open space in this land swap."

Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Plan for new Wellington equestrian showground heads for final vote