| Issue #2- April 6, 2007 |
HORSE FARM ON 5 ACRES IN EAST HAMPTON?
By Sabrina C. Mashburn
Last month, the East Hampton Town Planning Board held a hearing to decide whether or not to allow David and Lori MacGarva to fulfill their dreams of building a horse farm on their five-acre property on Middle Highway. At present, the recently graded and cleared property only has their home and an attached garage on it. If the plan is approved, the MacGarvas plan to build four paddocks, a jumping ring, seven parking spaces, a barn and a manure pit. Although their land is zoned as a residential property, the assistant director of the planning department, JoAnn Pawhul, explained that an easement on the property allows for agricultural use. Though the plan seems benign enough to pass the Board, some of the neighbors are less enthusiastic about allowing the MacGarvas’ dreams to become a reality.
Although the MacGarvas have the support of Maggie Kotuk, a neighbor who has had a horse farm on her property for more than 20 years, the MacGarvas’ troubles stem from the fact that their piece of land is not large enough to accommodate their dream farm. The general rule regarding horse paddocks is that one horse needs at least two fenced-in acres of paddock in which to run around in when it’s not being ridden. Each additional horse in a paddock requires another acre to do the same. Therefore, unless the MacGarvas plan to have only miniature horses, their property only has room for one three-acre pasture, which will accommodate two horses at a time. If the rest of their plan were to remain unchanged, the remaining two acres would then need to fit a six-stall barn, a jumping ring, seven parking spaces, a manure pit and the existing house and garage.
The indoor jumping ring at the boarding barn where I keep my horse measures 110 x 260 feet – outdoor jumping rings are usually larger. And with only one paddock, only two horses could be turned out at a time, making it impossible for the MacGarvas to turn horses out to the pasture all together. Since the house and garage are already on the property, all of these new structures, including the manure pit, will be a tight fit. Since this is a scaled-down version of their original plan, it seems that, like most dreams, the MacGarvas horse farm is simply too big for their modest plot of land. Perhaps they will scale it back once more, especially now that they still do not have the full support of other Middle Highway residents.
Though most of their neighbors do not oppose the MacGarvas having horses on their land, some are worried about having a boarding and training business directly adjacent to their property. Due to the space shortage, the MacGarvas’ jumping ring would be placed directly next to their eastern neighbors’ swimming pool. Although the MacGarvas are willing to provide screening between the two, they did not express willingness at the meeting to move the riding ring. Other neighbors are worried about the smell of the manure pit and the traffic that would be caused by the constant flow of clients, hay trucks, feed trucks, veterinarians, farriers, horse whisperers and everyone else who seems to come along with a new boarding barn. But for the Town Board, a horse farm on the five-acre property means something entirely different. If there is a horse farm on five acres, then there won’t be a subdivision, or a McMansion, there anytime soon. Even the dissenting neighbors, who said they were heartbroken when the MacGarvas cleared their land, would probably rather see a horse farm next door than twenty new neighbors in vinyl-sided houses.
The MacGarvas’ attorney, David Egan, said at the hearing that his clients had scaled down their original plan and “deserve some credit” for all of the work they put in to making the plan acceptable to the neighbors and the Board. Since most everyone agrees that even an over-crowded horse farm is better than a subdivision, the plan will most likely go through, with a few more adjustments.
 |
