The Yorba Linda Arts Alliance has ALWAYS maintained that the arts facility would be privately funded.

I’m sure an equestrian facility would be enjoyed by the horse owners in the area. However, I believe there are far more ATV and dirt bike owners in this city than horse owners. Even though I am an ATV owner and would love to have a nearby place to ride, I don’t think the city should pay to build an off-highway-vehicle park since it wouldn’t be utilized by a large cross section of the city’s residents. Same goes for an equestrian facility.

As to the statement that funding for an equestrian facility should come from “the same place we get the money for the ball fields,” I think the speaker is taking the wrong tack. The grassy areas for the ballfields have very widespread use and are utilized by a very large segment of the residents, so public funding of these areas makes sense. But the infrastructure for specific sports (backstops, goal posts, soccer goals, etc.) and the upkeep of the fields should be at least partially borne by the sports organizations that also utilize the fields. To a large degree this is being done already. I know that JUSA soccer provides all their own goals, has purchased lights for some fields, and spends thousands of dollars each year on field maintenance (fertilizer, grass seed, soil topper, sprinkler repairs and installation, etc.). As I understand it, Little League paid for and maintains much of the infrastructure at Veteran’s Park and also spends thousands of dollars each year on field repairs and maintenance. I don’t know about Pop Warner Football and the other organizations, but if they aren’t contributing, that should be changed.

If horse owners (or arts organizations, or ATV owners for that matter) want a dedicated facility in the city, they need to fund it themselves or sell the idea of a fee based facility to an investor or businessman, not come to the city for public funding.