LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Westside Community Park Committee has begun a planning process to add an equestrian area to the park and is set to hold a special meeting on the project.

The committee will host the meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 21, for the purposes of viewing the site and receiving public comment.

The site is located at the west end of Westside Park Road, which intersects Parallel Drive just north of the Kathy Fowler Auto Dealership in Lakeport.

Last August, the committee received approval from the Lakeport City Council to begin the process of developing the equestrian area, as Lake County News has reported.

Since then, a subcommittee has been established to oversee the process. Carol Thorn, secretary of the Westside Community Park Committee, chairs the group.

Other committee members are Carol Maxwell, a member of the Westside Community Park Committee board of directors, Jaxan Christensen and Sally Green. All are horse people and active in the county’s horse community.

A conceptual drawing and brochure were created by Virginia Vovchuk, according to Dennis Rollins, chairperson of the Westside Community Park Committee.

“The purpose of the conceptual drawing is to help the community visualize what development might include and could possibly look like,” Rollins said.

Rollins emphasized that the current goal is to evaluate the needs of the various horse groups and work to develop a plan that can meet as many of those needs as possible.  

“We are eager to visit the many horse groups to discuss this exciting project and hear from them about how the park might meet their needs,” said Thorn.

Rollins added, “We may not be able to meet all of the needs due to space and financial limitation but we need the information Carol’s committee will gather to provide us with a starting point.”

Early suggestions for development have included an arena with spectator seating, round pen, trail trial obstacle training course, horse camping sites and parking for trucks and trailers.  

“Additional suggestions will be added to this list based upon the input received through the subcommittee,” Thorn said.

The Westside Community Park Committee has requested the Konocti Regional Trails Committee explore a potential trailhead from this area. The ultimate destination of the trail would be Bureau of Land Management administered land to the west.

Currently, the two biggest needs, according to Rollins, are raising funds and finding an engineer to create the plan.

“This will be an expensive project partly because it involves providing road access and water,” Rollins said.

The Westside Community Park Committee hopes that an engineer with an interest in an equestrian facility will offer services pro bono or on a reduced cost basis to help make this a reality.

Visit the committee's Web site at http://www.westsidecommunitypark.org/ for more information about the project.