It’s been a rough summer for Nancy Pitchford-Zhe, but she’s in good spirits, she said Tuesday, despite a pair of trips to the hospital.
In May, the founder of Blue Star Ranch learned the property she had rented for her equine therapy facility was sold, and the owner was clearing out the stables for a new business, so she’d need to move.
Finding a stable for all her horses, which are primarily used to provide equine therapy to veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, seemed a tough enough challenge.
Luckily for Pitchford-Zhe, it turns out a longtime friend was there to lend a hand, and Jump for Joy on San Francisquito Canyon Road was able to share its space.
Unfortunately, about a month later, Pitchford-Zhe hit another rough patch, literally.
While working to clean out the nonprofit’s gear from her old facility, Pitchford-Zhe’s golf cart became stuck in the road, tipped over and fell on her, leaving her in the hospital.
Pitchford-Zhe said she was very grateful that the new owners of the property, George and Marco Molina of Earthwise Aggregates, happened to find her when they did.
“Thank God, Marco (Molina, the co-owner of Earthwise Aggregates) found me — I was there for an hour before he found me, and the way the cart fell on me, I broke 10 ribs,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday.
That wasn’t the end of it, though, she added.
Feeling she was released from the hospital a bit too early — she thought her broken bones would need some physical therapy, she said — she felt her fears were justified when she got home, suffered another fall while recovering, and broke her remaining two ribs.
Pitchford-Zhe was focused on what she was grateful for during a phone interview Monday, laughing about her luck and thanking the Molina brothers — Marco runs the business with his brother George — for their help with the move.
“We couldn’t have done it without George and Marco’s help,” she added, thanking Blue Star’s volunteers as well for assistance with the move.
She’s focused on recovering and getting operations ready at Jump for Joy, where she already has a veteran signed up and waiting for the program.
George and Marco Molina, who also have a family demolition business, said the move was a learning lesson for them, after receiving a stop-work order from the city on July 17.
When reached by phone Tuesday, Marco Molina said he was in the process of getting a permit from the city.
He said Tuesday he did not realize the removal of the stables, which were being donated to Blue Star Ranch, would require a demolition permit, which was why the city issued the order.
“When (Pitchford-Zhe) got injured, we promised her that we would help her with moving all the horses and donkeys and all that stuff that she needed, all the corrals and stables and all that stuff that needed to be taken over there to that new location,” he said.
George Molina, a retired L.A. Police Department officer, recently purchased Blue Star Ranch’s former home with plans to open Earthwise Aggregates, a business he’s trying to move from Coltrane Avenue to Placerita Canyon.
Now the address is part of an “active investigation,” according to city officials.
The city of Santa Clarita does not comment on any pending code-enforcement cases, citing state laws that call for confidentiality regarding active municipal code investigations.
Earthwise Aggregates, which is on a property that abuts open oil fields, Quigley Canyon Open Space and a Placerita power plant, filed paperwork in June for its new location at 20827 Placerita Canyon.
The brothers are trying to open a “state-regulated aggregate material recovery and processing facility on approximately 3.5 acres,” according to paperwork with the city’s Planning Division.
Some Placerita Canyon residents have expressed concerns about how the new business will impact the equestrian-friendly canyon and raised questions about the unpermitted work.
Teresa Todd, president of the Placerita Canyon Property Owners Association, said the association has not taken a position on the new business but it would be discussing Earthwise at its Aug. 7 board meeting.
The potential concerns for such a project include impacts from truck traffic, air pollution and noise, Todd said.
