The Muttontown Village Hall is the kind of place you would feel comfortable visiting on horseback. There are two old barns on the property, setting a tone for the area that is in danger of being lost. The problem is

the loss of horse trails. The issue was brought up at a recent board meeting.

Clifford Phillips, treasurer of the Muttontown Horsemen's Association said local residents were concerned about the paths being cut off by new construction in the village. "We're just losing all around here - why not just put in sidewalks," said Sharon Phillips.

Mr. Phillips asked what the village will do about it and reminded them of a local law #2, passed in 1984, that was supposed to keep the equestrian bridle paths open. The zoning board is required to get bridle easements as part of applications, he said. "It's not being adhered to."

Mayor Richard Murcott asked if any trails were blocked and Mr. Phillips said yes.

Highway Commissioner Raz Tufuro explained that a new house on Ironwood Road had put up a fence closing off 15 to 20 feet of trail.

In a telephone interview Kathleen Kleinman, president of the Muttontown Horsemen's Association said they have been working closely with the village to settle the issue to preserve the horse trails that have existed for over 50 years.

Mayor Richard Murcott said, "The horse trails are a big problem. It's all private property.

"Our counsel tells us that if you own the land and a horse trail is there, and you want to put up a fence and decide to leave a portion outside your property line there is the possibility that your next door neighbor could take adverse possession of the land."

He said when a subdivision is created and a new owner purchases a $1.5 million house, they don't want people walking around their property.

Mrs. Phillips said in Old Westbury, that village has million dollar houses but it gets its landowners to open their trails.

Mr. Phillips said what if the village decided to say no fences? The mayor said that would be something that would never happen. He said you can't say no to fences. He said the village gets complaints from residents that horses go off the trails and go into people's gardens. "A home owner called and said 'Someone on horseback rode across our lawn!'," he said.

The mayor said, "To this day I don't know where the horse trails are in Muttontown. If someone could put those together we could try to do something."

Ms. Kleinman said there may have been maps years ago, but they don't have any now. "I inherited the problem with the presidency. We never had a map. Maybe there was one in the early 1980s but we've never seen it." Around 1984 the village was authorized to have a equestrian bridle path plan of existing and proposed bridle paths map made of the trails but it was never done. She is currently working on making a map using the tax map and recent maps of subdivisions with easements marked.

The same law says the planning board can ask for bridle path easements when people appear before them.

The map of Muttontown shows a unique village clustered around the Nassau Country Muttontown Preserve. There are many access roads into the preserve from various areas. There are also easements at the back of parcels that allow people to get their horses to the preserve without going out into traffic. The Stoothoff property, now owned by St. Dominic's has an easement in the back of the property. Pen-More Farms has a bridle path but is land-locked and cannot get into the Muttontown Preserve from their site presently. For almost three years the MHA have been trying to negotiate with the Hoffman Preserve for an easement.

But many property owners are cooperating to keep the areas working well together the way they did in the past. The mayor said, "In some areas people like the horses and don't object to the smell. But some

new residents have extensively landscaped their property. They feel it is an estate area, meticulously landscaped and would rather not have horses around."

He offered a bright spot. The ZBA has required a 10 ft. easement around the back of some properties so they can make it to the NC Equestrian Center in Muttontown.

The mayor said one way to try to preserve the original character of Muttontown was to try to encourage one kind of recreation which could skew the population of people who were interested in that recreation to buy into the area.

"When Pen-More Farms first came up - since it was so horse oriented - we suggested they keep the barns for common ownership - but the developer didn't want to do it. It would have been a nice idea," said the mayor.

During the halcyon years of the Gold Coast, it was possible to travel by horseback from Old Westbury to Cold Spring Harbor. The trails for the most part crossed through estate property. Since horseback riding was one of the perks of living in Nassau County, horseback riders were welcome and traffic wasn't a problem back then.

Today, the sport still survives but it needs a little help.

That help at this time, is a light to stop traffic across Route 107, to connect the Old Westbury trail system with the Muttontown Preserve trails for both horses and pedestrians using the paths.

Kathleen Kleinman, president of the Muttontown Horsemen's Association has been working with New York State Senator Carl Marcellino on the project. Signs were put up, she said, alerting drivers that the area is a horse crossing, but she said, "The cars are doing 60 mph." Drivers also need education on how to react to horses in the road. Often they honk their car horns and that is only detrimental, she said.

NYS Senator Marcellino said the NYS DOT made a survey at his request to see if a light was called for across Route 107. They decided there was not enough volume of traffic to put in a light and they said that the spot chosen is a private road known as Fire Lane Number Three.

The decision at that time was to have signs put up in the area near SUNY Old Westbury. Ms. Kleinman said, "There are signs but people don't notice them. It's a curvy road and there is not a lot of visibility."

The senator was understanding about that issue. "Signage is hard. If it is a lonely road, people tend to ignore them." He said they have put up stop signs for pedestrians, but they are not as successful as would be wished. Education is needed to let people know they are there and then there is a need for enforcement.

The senator is still trying to solve the problem. "I have asked them to do another survey, looking at a road, McLean Drive, west of the other area on Route 107 just a little north of Fire Lane Three. They will see if that is possible. We have indicated there is a concern there."

Ms. Kleinman said they are considering a light that walkers and riders can activate when they need to cross the road. She said they were told it is costly to install a light, but said it is worthwhile and especially needed on weekends and in good weather.

Senator Marcellino said he hopes to ameliorate the problem with the nature trails. "It's not a dead issue. We are working on it. We will see what we can do."