Half Moon Bay Police Chief Don O’Keefe is recommending the City Council restrict commercial horse use on a popular stretch of beach that opponents say will create hazards and lead to injuries.

The issue is derived from novice riders who create dangerous situations for other beach visitors and the mess that horses sometimes leave behind. Opponents of the recommendation believe the issue is a matter of one city councilman trying to force his personal taste on others.

The council has three options from which to choose at its meeting tonight, according to a staff report prepared by O’Keefe, two of which would modify a current city ordinance to apply restrictions to beach access for horses. The third option would be to apply no restrictions.

The first option the council faces is whether to restrict large animals and horses to within 20 feet of the face of the bluff on the public beach between Poplar Street and Kelly Avenue. The second option the council faces is whether to restrict commercial-horse use to within 20 feet of the face of the bluff on the public beach between Poplar Street and Kelly Avenue.

O’Keefe is recommending the council adopt the second option.

The fact the city would distinguish between privately-owned horses and commercial horses has Willa Chapman, executive director of Sea Horse Ranch, scratching her head in disbelief.

“It’s like they are trying to create a wedge in the equestrian community or maybe they are trying to put us out of business,” Chapman said. Sea Horse conducts rides on the beach.

Chapman contends there is no documentation to support the city’s claim that horses are a risk to humans.

“They are trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist,” Chapman said. “This ordinance creates hazards that will lead to injuries.”

O’Keefe recommends the second option because commercial users tend to be less experienced riders.

All three options the council faces also include the development of a sign program to promote safety awareness between beach goers and horses on city beaches and trails and rules on where the horses can access and leave the beach.

Horses could access any portion of the public beach south of Poplar Street in all three options, according to a staff report written by O’Keefe.

An ordinance to establish regulations and restrict the use of public beaches by horses and large animals south of Kelly Avenue was first introduced at a City Council meeting July 21.

A public hearing was held Aug. 17 with 48 people attending at the Ted Adcock Community Center. City staff kept the comments from that meeting and put them in a binder to present to a council subcommittee. Of the 48 people attending the meeting, only one person spoke in favor of any restrictions, according to O’Keefe’s staff report.

Mayor John Muller and Grady sit on the subcommittee.

Larry De Young, president of the Coastside Horse Council, contends the ideas for restrictions are a one-man crusade orchestrated by Grady.

The Coastside Horse Council has said previously it would ask Grady to recuse himself from any votes on the matter because he has a personal bias, De Young said.

There are no police reports or written citizen complaints. Grady is using the power of government to force his personal tastes and wants on the community, according to De Young.

Grady cannot recall ever being asked to recuse himself from voting on the issue and said yesterday that he would not. He also said it is not a “Jim Grady versus the horse community” issue.

“This is a strategic planning issue that the entire council agendized a year-and-a-half ago,” Grady said yesterday. “Initially, we were contemplating no horses on the beach, period. I’m just one vote out of five.”

Grady contends the city does not do a very good job of taking care of its beaches.

“I think our stewardship of those beaches is poor from an environmental point of view,” he said.

The ordinance was proposed because there were complaints from residents and visitors that horses were being ridden by inexperienced riders on the beach causing safety concerns.

State parks do not allow horses on beaches and Half Moon Bay is proposing the restriction on a stretch of beach a little more than half a mile long.

“I’m often asked why don’t we follow what the state does,” O’Keefe said. If the ordinance passes, the city would look at it for a year and see how effective it is, O’Keefe said.

For Grady, it is simply a quality of life issue.

“There are horses everywhere and horse poop everywhere,” Grady said. “It’s not a hospitable environment.”

The meeting will be tonight, 7 p.m., Adcock Community/Senior Center, 535 Kelly Ave., Half Moon Bay.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.