Planning Commission recommends rezoning to allow family-run horseback trail-riding business in Lancaster County

The Lancaster County Planning Commission on May 15 voted to forward Brandon and Kelly Brent Kellum’s application to rezone two parcels on Pankersville Road from R‑1 (Residential General) to A‑2 (Agricultural General), recommending approval to the Board of Supervisors.

The rezoning request, presented by staff, seeks to allow the Kellums to operate a family‑run horseback trail‑riding facility (described in county materials as an equestrian academy) across multiple parcels the applicants own, continue existing farming activities and build a new single‑family home on one parcel. The application also includes a concurrent request to the Board of Supervisors for a special exception for the equestrian use.

Staff described the parcels by tax map numbers as 1666A and 1667 and said the properties are currently used for agriculture. The packet included parcel maps, photos and sketches of existing and proposed uses. According to staff, the applicant currently keeps five horses on site and does not intend to exceed eight horses.

Applicant Kelly Kellum told the commission, “I’ve had horses my entire life,” and said the family wants to preserve the land and share equestrian activities with the public. Brandon Kellum said the operation would be family‑run and that small groups would reserve time slots Thursday through Sunday for roughly “one and a half to two hours” of guided trail riding; he asked the commission for its consideration. The applicants said primary parking will be on tax map 1667, with overflow parking where an old store once stood, and that parking would accommodate at least six vehicles.

Neighbor Catherine Bennett, who identified herself as the immediate past president of the Northern Neck Kennel Club and a long‑time District 2 resident, said she and other neighbors support the proposed equestrian business but oppose allowing a kennel business on the property. Bennett told the commission, “We absolutely love the Kellams,” and explained that breeding one’s own dogs does not require a kennel license; she asked that the applicants not be allowed to board other people’s dogs. Staff clarified the county code defines a kennel as “a place prepared to house, board, breed, handle, or otherwise keep or care for dogs and cats for sale or return or in return for compensation,” and noted that a kennel is a by‑right use in A‑2 with a special exception.

After public comment and brief discussion, a planning commission member moved that the Kellums’ rezoning application be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation for approval; the motion was seconded and approved (the record shows the chair called for “Aye” and the motion carried; vote counts were not specified in the transcript).

The planning commission’s action forwards the matter to the Board of Supervisors, which must act on the rezoning and any special exception. The application packet included a notarized, conditional proffer from the applicant; staff said the applicant updated that proffer at the meeting to remove two specific permitted uses after feedback from an adjacent property owner.

The record does not show a final Board of Supervisors decision; the next formal decision point will be that board’s public hearing and vote.