It’s too bad it took two decades and hundreds of thousands of
dollars to come to the decision that no horse park will be built at
Little Arthur Creek.
It’s too bad it took two decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars to come to the decision that no horse park will be built at Little Arthur Creek.
There’s no disputing that the site would have made a beautiful place to ride through Mt. Madonna County Park. When conceived 20 years ago, the much-disputed horse park plans called for camping and parking to accommodate hundreds of equestrians but were scaled back to a day-use-only staging area with just 17 parking spaces.
Given the looming threat – and demonstrated willingness – of neighbors and environmentalists to file suit to block the equestrian park, it was time to stop the squabbling and make a decision.
Given the relatively low number of people the park would serve – county park staff estimated 19 people a day would use it – and the relatively high price tag – $750,000 – associated with creating the two-mile trail, bridge and parking lot, we think District 1 County Supervisor Don Gage was right to recommend the county end the debate and nix the idea of a Little Arthur Creek horse park off Redwood Retreat Road.
In lean economic times, local governments are wise to keep “bang for the buck” at the top of their priority lists.
It’s important to note two things:
• There are other places within Mt. Madonna County Park for equestrians to saddle up and ride and promises have been made to improve equestrian access to the park at Sprig Lake off Hecker Pass Highway.
• Horseback riders will have significant facilities at the planned Bear Ranch County Park east of San Martin.
Too much energy, time and money have been expended on this debate. It’s time to move on. We encourage the full Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to endorse Gage’s recommendation regarding the Little Arthur Creek horse park proposal.
And we’ll be watching to make sure that the county’s promises to horseback riders regarding Bear Ranch and Sprig Lake are kept in a timely manner – and that means it shouldn’t take another 20 years.
