Date: Fri 12-Feb-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Ammentorp-Sullivan-horse-arena

Full Text:

Horse Arena Application Is Withdrawn

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A Morgan Drive couple has withdrawn a controversial application to build an

indoor horse arena at their Zoar Ridge Stables

In a February 2 letter to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), Annette

Ammentorp and Brian Sullivan of 5 Morgan Drive withdrew their application for

a special exception to the zoning regulations. "As of February 1, 1999, all

business operations have ceased at the above address," they wrote.

P&Z Chairman Daniel Fogliano told P&Z members at a February 4 session the

applicants plan to resolve zoning issues in connection with the property

before they resubmit a revised version of the application.

Those zoning issues involve work which was done at the Morgan Drive property

in the past without obtaining all required permits. Morgan Drive is a dead end

street off Jeremiah Road, near Jeremiah Road's intersection with Bennetts

Bridge Road.

Ms Ammentorp said February 9 that Zoar Ridge Stables is having boarded horses

removed from the premises, after which zoning issues will be rectified and a

new P&Z application will be submitted.

At a January public hearing, the Ammentorp-Sullivan proposal to build an

indoor horse arena drew strong opposition from some of their neighbors who

said increasing the equine use of the 30-acre horse farm would damage the

quality of their lives.

The couple sought a special exception to the zoning regulations to build a

10,368-square-foot steel indoor horse arena, permission to board horses, and

permission to train boarded horses and train their riders.

Besides seeking arena construction approval, in making that application Ms

Ammentorp and Mr Sullivan were seeking to legitimize aspects of their horse

operation which were cited by the town last September in a zoning

cease-and-desist order. The town issued that order based on a neighbor's

complaint about the horse farm.

At the public hearing, P&Z members received numerous letters of opposition to

the horse farm proposal. A form letter submitted by 11 signers claims, in

part: the application is vague and does not reveal the eventual scope of farm

activities; expanding the horse farm's activities would damage the

neighborhood; the proposed arena is too large; 20 young children live nearby;

the proposed new land use would be an "attractive nuisance;" property values

would suffer; and the proposal would be a commercial land use in a residential

zone.

The P&Z also received eight letters in support of the application, citing the

benefits of the horse farm's presence.