Traffic issues bog down discussions over government-sponsored horse

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Feb 10, 2006 by James Mosher

A government-sponsored horse park may end up as roadkill.The issue of traffic is bogging down discussions over the proposed tourist site and slowing efforts by a building authority to get plans before state and county officials, people close to the situation say. The Maryland Stadium Authority, the government agency spearheading the effort, is still working on a study that it had hoped to finish last month.Traffic is the No.

1 community concern, said Gary A. McGuigan, the authority's project executive. We have been working a lot with State Highway [The State Highway Administration division of the Maryland Department of Transportation]. We also need to do some work with the county.Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens has declined to endorse the project for a number of reasons, citing budgetary priorities of schools, police and fire. Varying estimates as to what the county may be asked to contribute as well as lack of documentation from the authority are other factors.I have nothing in writing from them, Owens said. I have gotten [contribution] estimates ranging from $3 million to $30 million. But, again, I have no hard data. In politics the devil is in the details and I don't have the details.Except for the potential fiscal liability to the county, Owens approves of the concept.A horse park sounds like a good idea in principle, she said. It could be a phenomenal benefit to the state. And, I love horses, by the way.Holding the reinsTraffic along Route 3, a road near the 875-acre former U.S. Naval Academy dairy farm where the authority would like to build the park, has been difficult for a long time, Owens said. Some community associations have been studying the problem for 20 years, she said.Transportation is a significant issue, the county executive said.Two business associations expected by some to back the park remain neutral.We are still taking a look at it, said Robert Burdon, president and chief executive of the Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce. Traffic and density are the major issues. It's a significant project and our leadership is very deliberate about these things.Burdon said his group may adjust its stance within a month's time.The West Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce remains uncommitted after a presentation from the stadium authority last month that was well received, according to the chamber's leader.We're waiting to hear more, Executive Director Bridget Boardman said. We're concerned about the effects it might have on traffic and on businesses in the area.She declined to say if or when a new position might be arrived at.The Gambrills site was selected last summer, beating out competition from Carroll, Cecil, Frederick, Harford and Wicomico counties. Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer advocated and continues to push the site but county government wasn't and isn't actively interested, a fact that amuses Owens.I serve on the board of the Maryland Association of Counties, she said. My colleagues from Cecil and Harford really wanted the park. They looked at me kind of funny after the announcement [that Gambrills was chosen].Lack of enthusiasm from county leaders is dampening support among state legislators, Moyer said.Without the support of the current county executive the delegation is understandably reluctant to move forward on any funding issue, the mayor wrote in an e-mail.The county council did vote 6-1 in December to endorse the $75,000 feasibility study paid for by the state Department of Business and Economic Development. The authority hopes the study will be finished by mid to late February, McGuigan said.A site plan was released by the authority in December. Details include restoration of the main farm building, slated to be turned into an educational hall; a steeplechase and cross-country course, a horse auction pavilion, 840 stalls, a 5/8 of a mile training track, show rings, a visitor center and museum, and an environmentally friendly parking area.The venue is envisioned as a smaller replica of the Kentucky Horse Park. The Lexington, Ky., facility cost $200 million to build and shows about $1 million a year in losses that are covered by state subsidies. Government officials say the park, where thoroughbred legends such as Man o' War and War Admiral are buried, more than makes up for that by adding to tourism and tax revenue.The Maryland Horse Park has a number of high-profile boosters including Fasig-Tipton Co., an internationally known thoroughbred auctioneer. The company's lease at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium ran out last year and executives are deciding whether to remain there or perhaps move their auctions to another site, possibly in another state. T. Mason Grasty, executive vice president at the company's Elkton-based Fasig- Tipton Midlantic Inc. unit, wrote a letter to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in support of the park. Ehrlich himself has spoken warmly of the idea. Some Annapolis-area residents have formed a group known as Citizens in Support of the Horse Park. Early projections envisioned the $100 million park opening in 2009. Some backers and critics say the longer it takes for the authority to do its work the less likely the facility will ever be built. And with myriad special interests already competing for chunks of state government's $1 billion-plus surplus in the ongoing General Assembly session, it may already be too late, some say.They may have misjudged, Owens said. It's taking far longer than they anticipated.Others see time as being on the park's side.I think this will eventually work out because there is so much statewide support for this facility that's yet to be heard from, Moyer wrote. It may require a different cast of characters making the decisions but I believe the merits of this project will eventually prevail.