PORT TOWNSEND — Dave Drewry has worries about the Jefferson County Equestrian Events Center proposed near his home and business on 20 acres off Cape George Road, and horse association leaders say they want to work with him.
Besides the size of the horse park, Drewry worries about the manure odor up to 70 horses could create, along with noise and dust.
“It’s Jefferson County Fairgrounds, that’s what they’re going to do,” he said, adding that if that is the case, “You’re going to have a fight.”
Jefferson Equestrian Association leaders planning the facility said they hope to solve any issues before they arise.
They said they want to be good neighbors, and association president Kim McGuire said they would build structures away from Drewry’s property.
“We would not in anyway want to degrade his life,” McGuire said.
For 11 years, Drewry has lived with his family at the home in a forested area off Cape George Road west of Loftus Road.
There he runs his Peninsula Sportsman Guide and Outfitting business and rents two vacation cabins.
Welcomes ‘low impact’
Drewry said he would welcome “low impact” limited development, but he cannot support something of such a grand scale next to his home.
“Although a very small user group, JEA’s development plans are clear, and as proposed this is not merely a small recreational project but a major commercial venture expanding into a rural residential area,” he said in a letter to the Jefferson County commissioners.
The county commissioners are reviewing the proposal from the Jefferson Equestrian Association and could possibly sign an agreement with it to lease the site to the park group while still maintaining county ownership.
The agreement would allow the association to develop, manage and maintain the site.
“We are hoping to go before the commissioners later this month,” said Christina Pivarnik, association secretary.
Traded land
Drewry originally owned the access road to the county acreage until about a year ago, when he traded it for about an acre of county land adjoining his property.
“They had been begging us for our access since we’ve been here,” he said.
He said he now regrets trading the Cape George Road entrance to the 80-acre county property for a county acre adjoining his property, although it has eliminated his responsibility for trespassers who ride around the gated entrance road to use the property as a motocross track.
He is concerned about the size of the project and the amount of grading that will be required to level the area for horse arenas.
Drewry, who has no interest in horses, said he was immediately unimpressed with the project when he was first approached about it three years ago.
His only contact with horse riders has not been pleasant, he said, with some trespassing from the county site through his property, he said, even driving their animals across his neatly kept lawn.
“I try not to do this not-in-my-backyard crying, but this is a biggie,” Drewry said.
Proposed structures
A 200-by-80-foot covered arena is proposed for the site, along with two outdoor arenas, each 200-by-200 feet, a round pen for training, cross-country courses and 60 horse enclosures.
It wouldn’t be a park only for equestrians, supporters say, adding that it would have trails for both horses and pedestrians.
Competitor and public parking, a picnic area and utilities, vaulted toilets, judge booths, perimeter fencing and a show office also are planned.
A sustainable forest plan would be part of the project.
The facility would give youths in the region a nearby place to ride year-round, say supporters, who include riders in both Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Because the 80-acre site is on land zoned for solid waste disposal adjacent to the former Jefferson County Landfill, it has methane and leachate monitoring “wells” in strategic locations around it.
Permits needed
County officials said that, because of this, the site proposed for the equestrian events center must go through a solid waste handling facility permit process.
Building permits must also be secured for structures planned.
Jim Costello, equestrian association vice president who builds cross-country horse courses and who has been tapped to design the association’s horse park, said he hopes to meet with Drewry to address his issues.
“I think I would be concerned, too, if I didn’t know the extent that we would go to address those items,” Costello said.
“There’s such a demand for manure these days for biofuel or composting that we’re going to keep it clean.”
Noise would be abated with speakers aimed away from the Drewry property and a berm could also be built to buffer sound from the arenas, he added.
Fencing around the entire facility would end horse riders from trespassing on Drewry’s land as well, Costello said.
Better riding trails would encourage riders to stay within the park’s boundaries, he said.
Any dirt moved or kicked up would be watered down to control dust, he added.
“We’ll do everything we can to keep the dust down,” he said.
Pivarnik said there might be youths camping on the property a few nights a year but they would be expected to act respectfully.
Park hours would be from dawn to dusk, she said.
“We have to go through the whole permitting process,” Pivarnik said. “Having the agreement signed is only the beginning.”
Then the association’s volunteers could begin bulldozing an area for parking and the first 200-foot by 200-foot outdoor horse arena, possibly before next summer, association members said.
McGuire said the association was modeling its stewardship committee after that used by the Vashon Island equestrian park.
That committee includes neighbors who live around the park, such as Drewry.
“We would hope to have him on the committee,” McGuire said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.