Agency to Remount Hunt for Equestrian Center Site

A large show of public sentiment has sent the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency back to the drawing board in its search for sites for equestrian centers.

After five months of studying nine horse-friendly sites, the agency released a report Tuesday that concluded only one place--Olympia Farms--was worthy of further analysis. The report stated the other eight sites were too expensive, had poor soil conditions, faced homeowner opposition or included rare and endangered plants on the property.

But these answers--and the thought of just one horse ranch--didn’t satisfy the nearly 70 horse lovers who persuaded agency staff at a meeting Wednesday night to keep looking for a second spot.

Gina Smurthwaite, president of the local chapter of Equestrian Trails Inc., told the agency that the study’s conclusion that choosing the Olympia Farms site, located at the southwestern end of the city in Broome Ranch, as the only suitable place for a horse ranch was a “slap in the face to the equestrian community.”

She questioned the agency’s commitment to the semirural life she said it had once promised to those in the Conejo Valley.

So the agency, a group composed of city and park officials and a member of the public, agreed to keep hunting.

Officials set a Sept. 10 date for what they hope will be a final vote on the issue.

Both the public and the agency concurred that the second ranch wouldn’t have to be as big or as expensive as Olympia Farms, which would house about 200 animals on 20 acres of land.

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In fact, both parties liked the idea of using Olympia Farms for riding lessons, breeding and rodeo and jumping events, and using a second spot for housing horses. Rancho Conejo open space, north of Wendy Drive and the Ventura Freeway, and Los Robles open space, at the southern end of Moorpark Road, are the two top alternatives the agency wants to consider for future analysis, according to Tex Ward, general manager for the Conejo Recreation and Park District.

At the same time, the agency kicked two other sites out of the running: Lang Ranch, northeast of Avenida de Los Arboles and Westlake Boulevard, and Wildwood Mesa at the western end of Avenida de Los Arboles.

These areas had too many “significant constraints,” including rare and endangered plants, zoning difficulties, poor soil conditions and traffic congestion, according to agency coordinator Mark Towne.

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Although the agency did not rule out Two Winds--where the temporary equestrian center is now housed--as an option, too many concerns about the northeastern Broome Ranch site worried staff officials.

The report cited potential opposition from future residents at the Dos Vientos development, across the way from Two Winds. The soil is also bad there, according to the report.

But Two Winds’ operator Alvin Caddin said he believes home buyers would not pose a conflict.

“They’ll be able to see that they’re living across the street from horses when they look at buying a house,” he said outside the meeting. Those who like horses will choose to live there, those who don’t will know in advance what they are getting themselves into, he said.

The smell of horses and the threat of manure-loving flies aren’t concerns at Two Winds because the ocean breeze blows those problems away, he said.

Caddin also said the soil is “so good [at Two Winds], it’s scary. We have a real good drainage system up there.”

Several young people who work at the ranch, leading the horses or cleaning the stables, also voiced dismay that Two Winds might disappear as they know it, even though it was created just about two years ago.

Nick McNally, 11, of Newbury Park, addressed the agency: “We should keep Two Winds ranch where it is. It’s beautiful land and it’s working out pretty good. The new houses [that are being built there] will attract more customers and be good for the city.”