Trails of Purpose’s planned expansion to Virginia Beach is at a standstill after the city planning department found language in a decades-old land preservation program that bars the nonprofit from providing mental health services for military members at a Pungo farm.
Trails of Purpose began leasing parts of One Red Maple Farm in early May with plans to expand its services to a new location, running in tandem with its Chesapeake location. The nonprofit provides therapeutic care for service members suffering mental hardships, using horses for assisted psychotherapy and mental health education. The various services, which mostly involve handling the horses on foot, are meant to help current and former military members and their families.
“The answers I am getting from the city are very final. The wording is like, ‘I am so sorry, I know you don’t want to hear this.’ It feels set in stone,” said Kayla Arestivo, co-founder of Trails of Purpose.
Arestivo said the group applied for a conditional use permit at 1628 Mill Landing Road around that same time with the goal of opening the property in August.
But the property is part of the Virginia Beach Agricultural Reserve Program, which was established in 1995 and is designed to preserve agricultural lands in rural areas. As part of the program, the property is locked into a strict contract that prohibits the development of anything that is not “farm related,” barring council approval.
“After the permit was evaluated by the City Attorney’s Office and the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Department was advised that the applicant’s proposed use was considered recreational and was not consistent with the ARP easement,” said Bryan Clark, spokesperson for the City of Virginia Beach.
The proposed use included converting the barn, arena, and an additional structure into an indoor counseling space to provide therapy in an individual, marriage, family, and group therapy settings. Additionally, the psychotherapy would have been offered in the indoor arena, and outdoor arena.
“The use has been classified as ‘recreation and amusement facilities of an outdoor nature,’ which would be permitted in the AG districts with a CUP (conditional use permit). The use does not meet the definition of an agricultural use as would be permitted in the ARP. Based on this information the applicant has withdrawn their application,” Clark said.
According to Arestivo, the conditional use permit application process was smooth at first.
“They were optimistic, it didn’t seem like there were any issues we were running into. I submitted all the site plans, a few revisions, they came out and did a site visit, collected photos. We put the public hearing signs out, and I got a call probably a week after that we were denied because of the Agricultural Reserve Program easement that is on the property,” Arestivo said.
All 38 acres of the Mill Landing Road property were accepted into the preservation program in 2008 at the request of a former owner. The contract will not expire for another 10 years and the new owners are unable to petition the city to pull out of the program until the contract is up.
In the city’s correspondence with her, Arestivo said they referenced Virginia Beach zoning ordinance section 401 as a guide for approved land uses in agricultural districts. The code outlines approximately 90 principal, conditional or prohibited uses. There is no mention of equine assisted therapy.
“My ask isn’t that the city make me an exception. My ask if that the city reconsider what they zone equine assisted therapy as because they don’t even acknowledge it,” Arestivo said.
Equine assisted therapy, she said, is a relatively new field, which has only been prevalent for the past decade.
“My belief is that they didn’t acknowledge equine assisted therapy because it was not relevant back in 1995. But now we have several practitioners who offer it in the Hampton Roads area,” Arestivo said.
The code outlines principal and conditional permitted uses for the keeping, raising and boarding of livestock and dogs. And it allows principal permitted uses for recreational agritourism activities, which is defined within the ordinance as “any activity carried out on a farm or ranch that allows members of the general public, for recreational, entertainment, or educational purposes, to view or enjoy rural activities, including farming, wineries, ranching, historical, cultural, harvest-your-own activities, equestrian events, or natural activities and attractions.”
“If they will make exceptions such as for dog boarding — which dogs are not livestock — and pumpkin patches, why can’t we make an exception to think outside the box with equine assisted therapies? It is farm based and you do have to perform it on an agricultural property,” Arestivo said.
According to Clark, the process for updating the language in the reserve program to include the therapy use as proposed would require updating the city’s ordinance. Any changes to the ordinance require action from the city’s planning commission and ultimately a vote by City Council to adopt any change.
Arestivo said she plans to consult with a land use attorney to see if there is a way to move forward with the Mill Landing Road property. But she is also seeking out capital funding grants that could help Trails of Purpose purchase a different location.
“We are still at maximum capacity. We need to branch out and have a second place running in tandem because the Chesapeake location is maxed out. If it is an absolutely closed door, the need is still there even if we can’t operate at 1628 Mill Landing,” Arestivo said.
Trails of Purpose counsels about 100 military members, veterans and their families per week in individual, spouse, family or group therapy sessions. Arestivo, a licensed mental health counselor and military spouse, first launched Trails of Purpose alongside her husband Kyle at their family’s 15-acre farm in 2019. Since then, the number of military members who seek solace with Trails of Purpose has doubled.
“I have had chiefs call me and say, ‘Nobody’s picking up the phone, Portsmouth is overrun and I have got this kid.’ And they literally drive the sailor out to us. That is the need,” Arestivo said.
The nonprofit had hired three licensed professional counselors and began leasing seven new horses. Volunteers have also worked for two months to clean the property, clearing overgrown vegetation, animal pens, a bunk house and a barn.
“Crises happen, right? But it is hard not to be frustrated,” Arestivo said.
“My husband said the other day, ‘Why is it so hard to help people?’ We are not trying to run a for-profit business. We are just trying to help people. Why are there so many roadblocks?”
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