WELLINGTON, Fla. — With Americans heading to the polls in just a few weeks, we’re asking you what issues are most important. In Wellington, voters are telling WPTV's Michael Hoffman that development is on the top of their minds.
Construction. It’s a sight becoming more and more common in Wellington. We’ve told you about the controversial decision to add new homes to 90 acres of the Equestrian Preserve, and we’ve reported on the new Wellington Athletic Academy coming to Village Park. When it comes to all this change, voters have opinions.
Wellington. It's a name that conjures images of horses and, more recently, construction — and lots of it.
Mikhail Davidyan owns a small horse farm in Wellington and says the growth of the area is obvious.
Census data shows the population has increased 25% in 20 years, bringing more development and more traffic. An expansion that Davidyan says is important but needs to be done correctly.
"I think change is important but change has to be controlled," said Davidyan. "Wellington is a horse town and obviously people need a place to live, but at the same time they're taking away from farms in existing places that's supposed to be specifically for training and boarding horses, so it makes it very challenging I think."
Challenging for some and encouraging for others.
“Development is going to come," said voter Granger Angel. "It just adds more to our state.”
As long as they don’t put something everywhere, I’m all for it," said voter Aly Struyf.
And while people may be on the fence about their take on development, Joseph Gibbons, like many others in the area affected by changes, said he's not opposed to growth. But said it has to be done right.
"You have to have development, but you have to have smart development," said Gibbons. "You have to have inclusive development that just doesn’t cater to the wealthy but also has to include affordable housing because people who work here want to live here."
Other issues that are concerning voters in Wellington, they tell Hoffman, are property taxes and insurance rates.
