The locals call it “horse country” for its riding schools, breeders and stables. Their backyards house tennis courts and sprawling swimming pools. But Potomac residents say building soccer fields in the middle of its upscale River Falls neighborhood is “not for us.” “Our neighborhood is a quiet, pleasurablelike neighborhood — not a place for a soccer field, and all that would come with it,” said Maria Fusco, a River Falls resident. Her backyard bumps up against a 20-acre lot owned by the Montgomery County school board, which voted 5-2 to lease it to the county for $1,500 per year, citing a sparseness of fields in the area. Through a private-public partnership, the county plans to build up to four soccer fields and parking and bathroom facilities.

Currently, the lot hosts organic crops; its neighbors want it to stay that way.