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Times Herald Record Article -
Montgomery park plans no horse race
1 of 1 The Blackburne Farm in Campbell Hall yesterday. Times
Herald-Record/DOMINICK FIORILLE By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
May 24, 2007
Montgomery — Horse lovers have been champing at the bit for three years in
anticipation of an Orange County horse park on 68 bucolic acres off Route 416.
The county hasn't exactly shot out of the starting gate. But it set off at a
trot yesterday when a legislative committee agreed to plan a facility that could
ultimately include exhibition rings, arenas, stables and trails.
There is no cost estimate yet. The first expense will be an anticipated $300,000
to build a road to connect Route 416 to the landlocked property.
Members of the horse-riding community, eager for something more elaborate than
the two aging horse rings in nearby Thomas Bull Memorial Park, have been
promoting the equine facility as an economic engine for Orange County and
promising to secure donations of labor and materials.
But their involvement in the planning triggered some early miscues soon after
the county bought the former Blackburne Farm from the Ottaway family in 2004 for
a discounted price of $250,000, largely covered through a state grant.
Whinnies of opposition erupted as word got out that the "horse people" were
planning riding trails not only on the Blackburne Farm, but inside Thomas Bull
Park itself. That led to accusations of back-room dealing with County Executive
Edward Diana, which he has disputed.
Some lingering sensitivity was evident yesterday as Diana sat and parried with
lawmakers in their committee room.
The legislators had been asked to approve spending $50,000 on a consultant to
design the park, as the horse community wanted. But lawmakers from both parties
balked, agreeing instead to select the county Planning Department.
There was one complaint about the road cost, but no outright opposition. Still,
Diana felt compelled to warn lawmakers that the land must be returned to the
Ottaways if the county doesn't develop a horse park. He said, "We have made a
commitment by taking the grant, by taking the Ottaway property, that we are
going to do something for the equine community."
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