Wellington committee adopts guiding principles and asks council to discuss ‘equestrian lifestyle’ definition

The Village of Wellington Equestrian Preserve Committee on March 5 approved a one‑page set of guiding principles intended to advise Village Council on decisions affecting the village’s equestrian character, and it voted to request a timely council discussion with committee participation.

Committee member and document author (reading as proposed) summarized the alternate one‑page draft as an attempt to “accomplish the same end without getting into the complexity,” framing the document as a concise set of points the committee wanted council to use as a checklist when making land‑use or policy decisions affecting the equestrian preserve. Members debated several edits during a multi‑hour discussion and agreed to remove language that staff had flagged as outside the committee’s authority, to clarify open‑space language, and to add a recommendation to use current minimum lot sizes to support the principle of preserving farms.

After a line‑by‑line review the committee voted unanimously to approve the revised guiding principles as amended and then voted unanimously to request that the Village Council place the EPC guiding principles on a council agenda “in a timely manner” and to include committee…