Photo: CBS 12
A group of Wellington residents in Palm Beach County are calling for the removal of the village mayor and three council members. This after those elected officials voted to build homes and a country club on land that is currently used for horses.
"The most significant thing is asking to take land, 96 acres of the Equestrian Preserve for otherwise zoning against our current ordinances and charters."
Maureen Brennan is leading the efforts of the Coalition to Preserve Wellington, which has a petition out to recall from the Village Council Mayor Anne Gerwig and council members Michael Drahos, John McGovern and Tanya Siskind.
"I'm not a fan of government trying to interject itself in a private industry. This is a private industry. This council, none of them are equestrians."
Gerwig and Drahos will be leaving office due to term limits in March, while McGovern and Siskind have their terms expiring in 2026.
The owner of Wellington's Equestrian Village says homes are needed to help pay for new showgrounds, claiming they need to compete with other equestrian complexes in the state.
"There are other locations in Florida...in Ocala and in Sarasota. It's great to have competition. All these venues are needed. There shouldn't be one monopoly here. They have different functions, different times of the year. It's all good."
Brennan says Wellington's equestrian business is far from failing.
"The horse shows saw a 24 percent increase in the past two years, Polo was an 81 percent increase in the past three years and dressage was I believe 20 percent."
She clarified her thoughts to say "Expansion is welcome, but that does not eliminate the need for immediate and ongoing improvements in current venues."
The plans call for a high-end community of townhomes, single family homes and a country club on South Shore Boulevard, where the Equestrian Village currently sits. There would also be luxury villas and several farms across from a new and expanded Wellington International. Another part of the proposal is a hotel with stores and restaurants along South Shore.
A final vote on the proposal is expected during a series of meetings that start next week.
Click Here to listen and read Mayor Anne Gerwig's reaction to the recall efforts.
Brennan shared her grounds for the recall:
1) violation of the Wellington Land Development Code by voting on land use applications that the applicant substantially changed less than 10 days before the public meeting on the vote.
2) violation of the Sunshine Laws by conducting private substantive negotiations with the applicant about land use applications that were required to be conducted in an open meeting.
She also claims that her posts about the recall efforts have been taken down from the Nextdoor app and now says her Nextdoor account has been suspended. She fells that is suspicious as it happened a week before the meetings where the Village Council is expected to give their final vote on the proposal.
Should we hear back from Village leaders, we'll be sure to ask them about this as well.