State Horse Park Is Up for Discussion in Howard

Site Could Generate $9 Million in Tax Revenue, Study Estimates

Peter Bocharov pours feed for heifers at a former Naval Academy dairy farm. Plans for a state horse park at the Anne Arundel site faltered two years ago. (20O5 Photo By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)

Howard County officials might consider whether they want to pursue a state horse park that encountered local opposition in neighboring Anne Arundel County.

County Council member Greg Fox (R-Western County) was scheduled to introduce legislation this week that would create a task force to study whether the county should proceed with a state facility sought after for several years by Maryland equine enthusiasts.

A state horse park, modeled after facilities in Virginia, Kentucky and New Jersey, would host competitive events such as show jumping, dressage and steeplechase, and include show rings, trails, stalls, a cross-country course and an indoor arena over several hundred acres.

"Everywhere I go, people are talking about it," said Fox, who has asked council member Courtney Watson (D-Northeast County) to co-sponsor the bill. "It's generating a lot of interest."

Fox's action came after hearing from such horse enthusiasts as Michael D. Erskine, an equine veterinarian with a practice in Mount Airy.

"I do think it looked like a winner economically," said Erskine, who is president of the Maryland Horse Council, a trade association for the equine industry.

A state feasibility study last year estimated that spending by horse park visitors could total more than $122 million and generate more than $9 million annually in state and local tax revenue.

More than two years ago, state officials searched for a site and settled on a former dairy farm in northern Anne Arundel that is owned by the U.S. Naval Academy.

That choice foundered, however, when county officials balked at the potential cost of the $114 million facility, and residents complained that the park would bring traffic and noise to the rural community of Gambrills. The state withdrew its bid for the Gambrills property in March and might not renew the search until after the 2008 General Assembly legislative session.

But John Robert Burk, executive director of the Department of Agriculture's Maryland Horse Industry Board, promised that the effort would continue because "establishing a state park is seen as a necessity. We're losing championships to other states."

Fox said he has heard that Harford and Wicomico counties are reviving earlier bids to have the horse park.

"They've already been through the process," he said. "They're a few steps ahead."

Erskine, president of the state Horse Council, said the 925-acre University of Maryland Central Farm along Folly Quarter Road west of Ellicott City might be well situated to host the park. Beyond the issue of finding a suitable site, he said, the prospect of community impact again might pose a challenge.

Horse enthusiast Marcie Barnard leads one of Howard's two 4-H horse clubs, and she is urging the county to pursue the project. Barnard, who had followed the debate in Anne Arundel, said: "I couldn't fathom why they wouldn't want something like this. It's not like you're putting in a large football complex."