A care farm that uses animals to help treat mental illness will be allowed to continue operating, after Caernarvon Township officials granted a request for zoning relief.
The Caernarvon Zoning Hearing Board voted 3-2 to grant Kathleen Leonard, owner of Spirited Breeze Care Farm, relief from township rules that limit the amount of employees at a minor home occupation or a type of low-impact business run from the owner’s home.
Leonard operates the care farm at her 9-acre property off Blue Rock Hill Road.
Board members Taylor Billman, Timothy Dutton and alternate John Malm voted yes. Eugenia Papst and David Anspach voted no.
Two witnesses who work on the farm, and several residents and friends of Leonard spoke in favor of her business, noting the positive impact that treatment there has on local youth and others.
Several of Leonard’s neighbors opposed the zoning relief, voicing concerns about traffic and incidents of speeding stemming from the farm.
Spirited Breeze Care Farm
The farm offers counseling sessions with three licensed therapists, in addition to Leonard, a clinician with decades of experience.
Sessions are conducted outdoors and often involve animals or gardens on the farm, according to the Spirited Breeze website.
“The opportunities to engage with nature in a unique and therapeutic way could include a hike in the woods with the horses or dogs; sitting with the sheep; watching the koi while listening to the waterfall; or digging in the dirt in our garden,” the website says.
Jeff Kerlin, township zoning officer, said the township had initially received complaints about a business being run on the farm without proper permits.
He said Leonard then applied for a minor home occupation permit but was denied due to having more than one non-resident employee working there.
In addition to three therapists who work there several hours per week each, Leonard employs four part-time farm hands and an office manager.
Leonard said that when she started the care farm she didn’t realize any business permitting was needed from the township because the business involves an animal farm and is in the agricultural preservation zoning district, where animal husbandry is a permitted use.
“She has been operating this property since 2019 and no one from the township has ever sent her a notice of violation (until recently),” said Leonard’s attorney, Elizabeth Magovern of Hartman, Valeriano, Magovern & Lutz, Wyomissing. “She received a notice of violation and then immediately applied for the (zoning relief).”
Neighbors worried about traffic, speeding
Cynthia and Kenneth Putt said they live next to Leonard’s property and have had run-ins with traffic coming from the farm.
“People and their pets walk on this lane and there have been several near misses with a person or a car due to the high rate of speed people go,” Putt said.
The Putts said they built their home in the 1980s seeking a peaceful, private environment, which she said has been disrupted by the care farm.
The Putts’ comments were echoed by Jeffrey Schurr, who said he’s also seen people speeding and has had people back into his property to turn around.
“We live in fear of our animals being run over,” Schurr said.
Schurr said he’s heard someone coming up in the morning playing loud music and has found litter on the road.
Henry Wood, who also lives near the farm, said the road residents share with the farm is 12 feet wide — too narrow, he said, for two cars to pass each other without one partially exiting the road.
“My concern is that having a growing business on this narrow right-of-way might affect my property value,” Wood said.
Residents noted the private road is shared among a handful of separate property owners, whose homes are set back substantially from the road with long driveways.
Magovern asked Schurr if he knew the people speeding or causing other disruptions on the road were from Leonard’s farm.
“No, it’s an assumption,” Schurr said.
Magovern noted the total weekly hours of all employees amounted to less than 40.
“The amount of people that have been to and from her business on a daily basis is so minimal that no one complained to the township (for six years),” Magovern said.
She also noted the use of the farm is permitted under zoning rules, with the only issue being the number of employees allowed on-site.
In a public comment, Audrey Parker, who said she was a longtime friend of Leonard, said she’s encountered people while entering and exiting Leonard’s property, but has never had issues moving aside to let people pass.
Farm hand and Twin Valley High School senior Brian Yagle, 18, testified that in the three years he’s worked on the farm he hasn’t had issues with traffic.
Community support
During the hearing, representatives for Leonard presented more than a dozen letters of support for Spirited Breeze.
The letters, which touted the benefits of therapy on the farm, particularly for children, were written by numerous clients and parents, in addition to a therapist, social worker, child welfare worker, high school teacher and more.
“Children who would normally struggle to communicate or fully engage became attentive and focused around the animals,” Michelle Altringer, director of therapeutic support at Access Learning Academy, Pottstown. “Students who were angry and dysregulated quickly learned to calm themselves, understanding that heightened emotions could frighten the animals.”
Altringer said her school, which serves students with social and emotional learning disabilities, has been providing support services to the Twin Valley School District, and met Leonard when she was searching for therapy alternatives for students.
“The impact of their program on the children and teens they serve is meaningful and lasting,” Altringer said. “The community support has continued to grow … community members have come to recognize how truly special the farm is.”
She noted many of the people who support Leonard and the farm do so as volunteers.
Heather Messenger said her relationship with Leonard began after she sought therapy for her son, who wasn’t making progress with more traditional therapy.
“He came to Kathleen on a very rough trajectory,” Messenger said. “Kathleen not only saw him for a year and was able to work with me to get him into residential treatment. Now he is flourishing and doing marvelously. I could not be more thankful.”
Messenger, who works as a supervisor of student services for 21st Century Cyber Charter School, said Leonard learned Messenger also was a clinician and asked if she wanted to pick up cases on the farm.
“There’s so many kids that need counseling,” Messenger said. “It’s extremely important.”
The zoning board granted the relief on the condition that Leonard not hire any additional employees or increase traffic beyond current levels at the farm.
No board member commented on the vote, although members questioned Leonard extensively on the details of her operation, as well as the location of her driveway in relation to neighbors, the amount of parking spaces available and whether she plans to expand.
Leonard said she has no plans for growth and has maintained the farm at roughly its current size and clientele base since its start.