The Connection

Bringing Riding Business Back Home

When Sharon and Charles “Chip” Molster first began teaching horse riding lessons at their home on Blacks Hill Road in 2009, they found their customers loved having an opportunity to learn riding so close to home there in Great Falls.

“[Lessons are] far and few between without having to lease or own a horse, to just come out and learn all aspects of riding in a controlled, small and safe setting,” said Sharon, who teaches young riders with her niece at nearby Turner Farm.

But since 2012, Blacks Hill Stables, LLC, has provided all lessons off-site from their property following a zoning complaint filed by a neighbor about the family operating a stable business from home. Presently the property retains all of the equipment for a horseback riding education – two riding rings (one beginner and one intermediate), three pastures, and a barn with stables on their 5.5-acre property – but holds all lessons elsewhere.

FOLLOWING THE COUNTY’S NOTICE of violation, Chip and Sharon voluntarily stopped providing lessons at their home in November 2012. County regulations allow home stables to legally board up to three horses at a time, but not provide lessons without a special permit, according to Chip Molster. “We don’t board any horses now, but we have horses for our own use and enjoyment,” said Molster, who works as an attorney.

The Molsters have since applied for that special permit, which has cost them more than $16,000 and counting. County officials working with them have suggested building a cut-through road to nearby Falls Bridge Road to account for any customers and traffic they may bring.

That suggestion has made some community residents weary of a new road that could bring traffic from nearby Georgetown Pike right next to their homes. In addition to the original neighbors who notified the county of the business, others have circulated a petition online voicing their concerns.

“There is no need for a commercial stable deep within a residential neighborhood on Blacks Hill Road,” wrote one neighbor. “All of the commercial stable traffic – feed trucks, riders, horse trailers, etc., – would drive through the heart of our neighborhood every day of the week.”

Responding to these concerns, the Molsters have said that the special permit for which they have applied limits the number of students and classes they can hold at their home. “At most we’re talking five or six cars a day, and that’s for only four to five days a week,” said Sharon Molster. “We’ve agreed with the county that we’ll have no more than twelve students at a time.”

Additionally, Sharon said that they share feed and hay trucks with other horse-owning neighbors that come about twice monthly up the road. Chip has also talked with the county about paying to plan a wall of evergreen trees at the back of the property in order to respect neighbors’ wishes for privacy.

To help mediate between both sides of the unfolding dispute, the Great Falls Citizens Association has called for a Land Use and Zoning Committee hearing March 10 at The Grange building off of Georgetown Pike.

“One way or the other there are going to be a lot of voices heard,” said Bill Harvey, a GFCA executive board member. “Petitions have been done on many land use issues in the past. They’re a good way to coalesce various interest groups,” said Harvey regarding the opinions circulating online.

After the March 10 meeting, others may follow before GFCA makes a recommendation to the Fairfax County Board of Zoning and Appeals based on what they hear from their members, according to Harvey.

CHIP AND SHARON are optimistic, and say that they have been able to work successfully with both the county and their neighbors in the past. “We’ve changed the parameters of the program along the lines of the county and for what some of the neighbors have requested to change the amount of traffic on the road,” noted Chip. “Hopefully that will help the process to wind up finishing soon.”