Regarding the article, “Snohomish County buys former horse farm in Maltby for future park”:
To the Snohomish County planning committee, if I could make a suggestion: Since you’re only talking about developing 25 of the 65 acres at these horse stables, may I suggest leaving the other 40 for boarding horses? What the Carousel Ranch provided to the community was a lower-cost facility to board horses for those people who love horses but don’t have a great deal of income to pay two or three times the cost elsewhere locally. Not everyone who owns a horse belongs to the Polo Club, most are hard-working people who simply love horses.
While I love the idea of more soccer and youth sport fields, I ask that the planning commission also understand that it is displacing living, breathing, beautiful animals whose owners may not have the funds to pay two or three times the cost elsewhere to board their horses in the area. You already have a barn, stable and covered arena — think how much taxpayer money you could save by keeping them upright and working? You could also continue to charge boarding fees so the park could pay for itself. You could set an income limit on whom you allow boarding to give those people in the area who need it a break.
This is an opportunity to create something most public parks don’t have simply by leaving some of it as it is. While dog parks are great, how many places are left near major populations where horses can run a bit? Here’s an opportunity to be different in planning. Instead of bulldozing everything flat, preserve some space for something that had been there for the previous 80 years. Don’t make boarding a horse something that only the very wealthy close to the city can afford.
Larry Gilmore
Marysville
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