by Anastasia Burke
Horse lovers were ecstatic Tuesday after county supervisors approved sweeping
changes to a 42-year-old horse-keeping law.
"I'm happy to say," said Coastsider Carl Hoffman, who runs
a tack and feed
store catering to horsemen, "that the chance of horses existing on
the
Coastside for years to come has never been greater ..."
Said Lennie Roberts of the Committee for Green Foothills, "It proves
if you find a way to work together it's possible to get things done."
The changes address concerns by horse owners
about exorbitant horse-permit fees, bureaucratic red tape, inconsistent
application of environmental criteria, and enforcement by individuals
lacking any horse knowledge.
"Most of us in the horse community felt we were being singled out,"
Coastside Horse Council President Roxy Stone said.
"In the revisions, we were able to come up with a reasonable ordinance
that encompasses all large animals over 300 pounds that must be kept in
a confined space.
"Now it's fair," she added.
In addition to eliminating the need for extensive site maps and surveys,
the
revisions cut fees for a first horse from $1,419 to $50, a figure in line
with other Bay Area counties.
County equestrians had felt beleaguered by the process of obtaining
a permit.
"Within the past few years, the experience of getting a permit
was just an impossible task," Hoffman said.
He said that, as a businessman, he was accustomed to dealing with paperwork.
But in obtaining permits for his three ranches - two commercial and one
private - he felt completely stymied and overwhelmed.
"That won't be the case any more," he said. "People should
no longer have a
fear of going to the county for a permit."
"Actually, this is a win/win situation for all the stakeholders,
including horsemen, environmentalists, and the county planning department,"
said San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill late Tuesday.
"When this first blossomed a year ago, I anticipated a nightmare,"
Hill said.
"From the amount of emails, phone calls and letters we received
from horse people and environmentalists who were upset, I just anticipated
this to be a very long, very unpleasant episode in county government."
Hill praised the Coastside Horse Council, a local equine advocacy group
that was formed just over a year ago with the specific goal of preserving
the equestrian lifestyle.
"It was clear from the beginning that the horse council wanted
to work as a team with the environmentalists and the county, which was
key to making the process work," he said.
Horse Council President Stone explained: "In late summer of last
year, it had become very apparent that the old ordinance, which dates
back to 1959, was on its way to crushing commercial and private horse
keeping in the county. We wanted to stop that."
However, many county horse lovers were either unaware of the ordinance
requiring horses to be permitted, or they chose to ignore it.
Although there are an estimated 2,000 equines on the Coastside alone,
countywide only 32 permits were issued in the year 2000.
"The 1959 ordinance was onerous, outdated, and capricious,"
said Craig Miller, a founding member of the Marin Horse Council, who helped
the
Coastside Horse Council.
"That ordinance was designed to encourage people to break the law."
The revised ordinance is not only good news for the horse community,
but also for environmental advocates, whose concern about protection of
streams and rivers has often in the past put them at odds with equestrians.
"This plan addresses those issues in a way that satisfied all parties,"
said George Bergman, a county planning department official who has wrangled
with problems in the horse keeping laws for years.
"I am very pleased with the outcome," Bergman said. "We
had a meeting of the minds. We understood their need for reasonable fees,
and they came to have an appreciation for the environmental issues."
Roberts of the Committee for Green Foothills said that despite the fact
that organized horse people and environmentalists were at loggerheads,
"it was encouraging that we were able to work together."
"It proves that if you find a way to work together it's possible
to get
things done."
She said she believes the ordinance is protective of streams and coastal
resources, while at the same time simplifies the permitting process for
horse owners.
"Most horse owners are interested in environmental protection,"
she said.
The new confined animal ordinance calls for owners to regulate themselves
in
a variety of matters, including manure disposal.
"The county is more interested in the outcome than the process,"
said
Bergman. "My feeling is that you don't win trust. You earn trust.
We came to
see, over time, that the horse community is highly interested in doing
what's
right and could be trusted to do so."
With approval by the Coastal Commission, there is only one remaining
obstacle to the implementation of the new ordinance.
'The next and critical step to the successful implementation of the
ordinance is the formation of a balanced Technical Advisory Committee
(TAK), composed of individuals knowledgeable in the keeping of horses
and the protection of the environment," said Stone.
"I am encouraging people who have experience in both of those areas
to apply to the county for a spot on the task force."
Stone says that next on the Coastside Horse Council's agenda is the
formation and preservation of trails.
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