Dozens of horse advocates publicly criticized the proposed plan, saying it went too far, particularly by limiting horse riding to within 15 feet of the bluffs.
For some equestrians, the ordinance wasn’t about horse riders getting too close to the beachgoers and sunbathers. Instead they characterize the city restrictions as the latest step in the wide-scale erosion of the right to ride a horse on public lands.
 Some in Half Moon Bay'€™s beach neighborhoods complain the proximity of horses to others on the beach simply isn'€™t safe. |
Dozens of speakers from a hodgepodge of Peninsula horse associations asked the city to reconsider its proposal to limit beach riding.
“We have been losing too many trails throughout the county and state. It’d be unfortunate to lose another,” said Al Filice, former president of the San Mateo County Horsemen’s Association. “We have a unique thing in Half Moon Bay.”
Along with restricting horses on the beach, the council proposal would put stronger rules on parking for horse trailers at Poplar Beach and make the ramps down the beach into one-way pathways for horse riders. Horses would only access the beach through a dirt ramp on Poplar Beach and exit the beach on a similar ramp south of Kelly Avenue.
Supporters of the proposal say the close proximity of horse riders and pedestrians around the popular beaches represents an accident waiting to happen. Police Chief Don O’Keefe says he can’t remember any such accidents involving horses ever occurring on city beaches.
“But you have to be proactive,” O’Keefe said. “I hope you don’t have to wait for something bad to happen.”
Half Moon Bay and its surrounding area have miles of equestrian trails, making the area a destination for horse riders throughout the Bay Area. Horse riding is the second-most popular attraction drawing tourists to the Coastside, according to Half Moon Bay Coastside Chamber of Commerce and Visitors’ Bureau. Horse advocates say the strip of beach going south from Kelly Avenue remains one of a handful of accessible coastlines that still allows horse riding.
“Horse owners travel to the coast just so they can ride our beaches,” Chamber President and CEO Charise McHugh told the council. “I would be remiss (if I didn’t tell you) the impact horse riding has on our local economy.”
McHugh and two local equestrian ranch owners collaborated with the police chief to draft the plan to the council. Though one of the advisers to the plan, Chapman said frankly that she didn’t see any need to draw up new horse regulations.
“It’s the obligatory once-a-decade look at horse trails, and it’s frustrating,” Chapman said. “The ranchers have gone far to make things safe.”
Plans to revise horse guidelines have been discussed among council members for years. In 1999, the city Planning Commission approved a proposal to build an information kiosk at Poplar Beach in order to help educate people about sharing the beach trails. That kiosk was never installed.
At last week’s council meeting, horse manure was the focus of particularly heated discussion. Horse riders contended manure left on the beach is safe, clean and at worst a minor nuisance to visiting beachgoers. Their opponents, including neighborhood residents, said the manure was unsightly and presented a health hazard. The city proposal would have allocated $10,000 to clean up manure on trails in the city.
The strong public outcry against the proposed horse-riding ordinance led council members to scrap most of the proposal and send it back to the drawing board. The only approved item in the proposal would use $25,000 to renovate the Poplar Beach parking lot, adding advisory signs and designing a new system to collect parking fees.
A public session to brainstorm new rules on horse riding on city beaches has been scheduled at 6 p.m. on Aug. 17 at the Ted Adcock Community / Senior Center.
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