West Stockbridge — With her U.S. visa application on the line, Swiss equestrian riding center proprietor Dr. Dory Klotz Czech answered questions posed by the Planning Board on April 15 relevant to a special permit application filed with her partner and fiancé Dr. Gabriel Kaufman to open the business at 72 West Alford Road. After the two-hour hearing, however, she and Kaufman will need to wait a bit longer as the dais assembles for a site visit this Saturday, April 19, at 9 a.m., followed by a continuation of the session on May 1 at 7:15 p.m.
Czech, who is also an equine veterinarian and award-winning European horse show jumper, recently received her state certification enabling her to open a riding school on the historic 63-acre estate. Last year, the multi-lot historic property was purchased by Blueberry Hill LLC, of which Kaufman is principal and, together with Czech, will manage the anticipated business—the Berkshire Pony Club—that will offer two-hour lessons to individuals of all ages. Those lessons will include a half hour of care for the horse before and after the session.
Seven horses will reside on the estate, according to Czech, with two of those horses retired and five horses available for lessons, including a Swiss show jumper, Irish ponies that specialize in eventing and jumping, and a highly rated German breed of horse. All of her horses were rescued and cared for in her clinic in Switzerland, she said, and “are all happy now.”
The tennis court on the equestrian site will be removed and the area transformed into an outdoor arena. Lessons will be provided for one student at a time, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, with adult instruction reserved for Saturdays, Czech said. She will add one employee as staff for horse and grounds care, but that individual won’t teach lessons.
“What I don’t want to do is … have masses of people [at the facility],” she said, adding that larger groups would not make for a good environment for the horses. As a result, the business will be by appointment only and not accommodate those seeking walk-in lessons.
A septic system will need to be constructed and a well drilled on the property. Five parking spaces were shown on the updated plans, and no amplified sound will occur on the site.
Czech and Kaufman held a meeting with 12 neighbors and abutters to explain their facility and note concerns the surrounding homeowners may have. Even so, some issues still remain: accurately routing clients to the facility that is off a dirt road, the configuration of lights on the arena, and shoring up or expanding the culvert below the property entrance.
The road leading up to the Blueberry Hill property includes a single-lane dirt road stretch of Easland Road, with no room for passing, said West Stockbridge Highway Superintendent Curt Wilton who attended the hearing. That road doesn’t receive much maintenance from the town, he said, and the relevant section of the town-owned portion of the road at the property was “discontinued but was never properly abandoned” by the town.
“The [town] maintenance on that road, as far as the town highway [department] is concerned, is very, very low,” Wilton said. “It’s not a priority.”
Blueberry Hill LLC now owns the portion of the road that is on its private property.
Wilton showed evidence of longtime flooding on the town-owned right of way on West Alford Road, also known as Wilson Road, stemming from an undersized culvert beneath the roadway, as well as water running off from the higher ground Blueberry Hill LLC property onto West Alford Road.
“Because the footprint will be changing because of the stables, I would like to see something as far as a stormwater drainage system or an upgrade to that area so when [water] does come down the hill, stormwater will stay on the property and it won’t go down the town right of way known as West Alford or Wilson Road,” Wilton said.
Planning Board Chair Dana Bixby voiced concern over the responsible party for the road and asked for detailed drainage and grading plans as Czech stated the project includes a grading and drainage component on the site.
Board member Andrew Fudge questioned the viability of the route for large fire trucks to access as nearby resident Marjorie Powell testified that trucks often must back down the route due to its narrow passage.
At issue for most of the residents was the possibility of added traffic on the road and confusion over customers being routed the wrong way from navigation systems, with the addition of signage possibly clearing up some of those problems. “You don’t want people getting lost,” said Easland neighbor Marjorie Powell.
When asked if she would be riding horses on routes off the Blueberry Hill LLC property, Czech responded that the issue is one of insurance and taking students off site onto trafficked roads for lessons would be too dangerous.
Bixby also pushed for more expert drafts of the lighting to be installed on the arena that should be pointed downward and dark-sky compliant. Czech said the lighting would only be used during lessons as the days grew shorter and, in an emergency, should a sick horse need to be walked.
West Alford Road abutters Alice and George Frelinghuysen share a portion of the Blueberry Hill LLC driveway by virtue of an easement. Alice Frelinghuysen said the couple is “happy with their new neighbors” but feared customers might gravitate onto their own property either by mistake over the riding school’s entrance or out of curiosity. The Frelinghuysens also voiced concern about the Saturday use of the equestrian facility since they are weekenders in town.
Czech offered to add wooden barricades to cut off the Frelinghuysen’s property from traffic, but George Frelinghuysen said that measure would be too burdensome for caretakers of their home to remove every time they needed access to the site.
The Planning Board, in its special permit, can set conditions, with those conditions limiting allowances such as the hours or days of operation and other features of the business, Bixby said.
At the hearing, Czech told the dais that her “investment visa” is dependent on the workability of the business. “I need a [U.S.] visa, so this is a very important part of the visa,” she said of the special permit.
