Say No to the Horse Park

The Post this morning noted that Governor Ehrlich has delayed introduction of legislation that would support a horse park on the property of the Naval Academy Dairy Farm in Gambrills. The sticking point here seems to be that the state and county have not yet agreed on how to pay for the $100 million dollar project.

I take a look at the number, the $100 million, and think about what else that money could be spent on. It would be roughly the cost to build a new high school down the road in Crofton. It could go towards replacing antiquated police radios, or even construction of the new Eastern District Police Station. It could even go towards an additional property tax rate cut.

Now, at the same time, I take a look at Compass Pointe. Take a look at the project as a whole, the development, the state money, the county takeover, the audit, everything. How has the use of taxpayer dollars on that project helped the community?

In the end, I think that we all need to step back and say no to the construction of the Horse Park on the grounds that we have better things to use tax dollars on. Education and public safety need to come before such expenditures. While I understand that the park may benefit the horse industry, the industry would be better served by the passage of slots legislation. And while it is important to maintain the land for its federally mandated agriculture use, I am concerned that by using the land as a horse park the environmental gains of keeping the land in an agricultural status would be lost.

As a county, we would be better served by the state leasing the land from the federal government and operating the land as an agriculture education center, much in the same way Arlington Echo operates as a an outdoor education center. We would be able to preserve the land's agricultural heritage without the development and traffic concerns that may come with the creation of the horse park.