Developers propose clustered 40‑home ‘Isla Carroll’ PUD with Discovery‑run equestrian club; board questions sequencing and permanence

Developers presented a rezoning and master plan for the 79‑acre Isla Carroll property that would retain the site’s existing entitlement for 40 dwellings but cluster those units and create a professionally operated equestrian club as the project’s centerpiece.

Tom Lucid of McCourt Partners and counsel Seth Bain described a plan that preserves the property’s Residential B future‑land‑use density (0.5 dwelling units per acre in EOZD Subarea D) while clustering homes to leave a 14.5‑acre equestrian core and roughly 2.5 miles of bridle trails. Lucid said the team will deliver equestrian amenities before residential buildout exceeds specified thresholds and will make equestrian facilities available ‘‘in perpetuity.’’ Discovery Land Company partner Ed DeVita told the board Discovery will co‑own and operate the club and manage equestrian programming, horses and staff year‑round.

Seth Bain explained the PUD and the Project Standards Manual the team submitted. Under the proposal, the 80‑acre site would contain a 47.75‑acre residential pod (35 smaller lots averaging roughly 0.4 acre plus five larger “equestrian farm” lots of about 1.5–2 acres), a 14.5‑acre equestrian club pod with a 24‑stall barn, covered and open arenas, paddocks and grooms’ quarters, and approximately 13 acres of lakes and buffers. Bain said the rezoning and master plan do not increase the overall density already permitted under the EOZD but do change lot sizes and concentrate equestrian uses on a single, professionally managed club pod rather than distribute them among private lots.

Planning staff entered the applications (rezoning and master plan) and told the board the proposed PUD meets the comprehensive plan and LDR standards. Kelly Ferriolo said the traffic engineer found the plan meets performance standards and that the developer will be required to contribute proportionate share payments and right‑of‑way dedications for 120th Avenue South and Lake Worth Road as conditions of approval. Ferriolo also noted the Equestrian Preserve Committee recommended denial at its Jan. 8 meeting.

Questions from board members and members of the public focused on sequencing and enforceability: what exactly must be built before home occupancy thresholds are exceeded, whether the existing barn would be restored or fully rebuilt, who would own and control the club in the long term, whether residents of Wellington (non‑members) would be given access to educational programming, and whether clustering extinguishes private equestrian rights on the smaller residential lots. Seth Bain proposed a condition (supported in staff materials) that would require substantial completion of a defined portion of enclosed club structures before more than a small number of certificates of occupancy are issued; Bain said the applicant will agree to complete the entire equestrian center before issuing more than 10 certificates of occupancy.

Discovery’s DeVita said Discovery’s club model is owner‑operated and funded through club dues; he said Discovery has built 34 similar facilities worldwide and that the operator would own and run the horses and staff. DeVita said the club would conduct programming for youth and school visits and would pursue partnerships with local horse‑rescue organizations.

Public commenters and EPC members raised concerns that the proposed PUD would remove private equestrian development rights from most of the subdivided lots (by reducing lot sizes) and that a prior planned development elsewhere had promised horse facilities that were never implemented. The EPC’s recommendation of denial was grounded primarily in policy preference: the committee opposed the clustering option found in the EOZD and suggested the code itself should be revised. Staff’s analysis, by contrast, concluded the PUD is consistent with the comprehensive plan and LDR when conditioned as proposed.

At the end of the transcript segment provided, the board continued to question applicants and staff; no final decision on Isla Carroll was recorded in the provided transcript.