Agenda - 04-15-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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28 1 Commissioner Gordon clarified that this is a public hearing, and no decision will be made 2 tonight. 3 4 Mike Schmidt said he would use his three minutes to tell a story. He said he was having 5 a tough day at work. He said he drops his dog off early in the morning and usually picks up late 6 at night, but he took off early and picked up his dog early. He drove up the driveway and saw 7 his dog chasing bubbles that someone was blowing. He said he asked about this and he was 8 told that the kennel had researched how to create dog sensitive bubbles to give the dogs 9 different play and interaction. He said he was told long ago that you can judge someone by 10 their actions when they don't know they are being observed. He said these people really care 11 about these animals, and he wants to tell about the great benefit he receives, along with the 12 hundreds of others that signed the petition. 13 14 Jane Bozart said she sent an email, and if this is in the record she does not need to 15 repeat it. 16 17 Ken McNish said he has been bringing his dog to Sunny Acres for three years, and he 18 feels that the key feature that makes it different is the open space for the dogs to run. He said 19 there are a lot of complicated things being discussed tonight; but this is simple, and the proposal 20 makes sense. 21 22 Susan Heske said her dogs have been at Sunny Acres for two years, and aside from the 23 benefit of the dogs being able to run and socialize, it is also a very professional business. She 24 is amazed at the staff and the commitment. She said it is located in an area that can use some 25 business. She is not aware of any neighbors waging any complaints. She said she is more 26 concerned with the process and why this situation has not been adjudicated in 8 years. She said 27 a fair amount of money was invested in improving an existing fence. She said this is about 28 process, and her concern is why this has remained dormant for so long. She said this is a low 29 impact business, and there is nothing harmful to the environment. She said the kennel provides 30 jobs to people and is a benefit to hundreds of dogs. 31 32 Peter Eckhoff said he has been a customer of Sunny Acres for 4 and a half years. He 33 said his son came down with cancer, and his dog was boarded for 2 months at Sunny Acres. 34 He said the dog was high energy, and he was able to go out in the runs. He said when the dog 35 came home and was then taken back to the kennel; he dragged the owner to the front door. He 36 has had other dogs at other kennels, and it wasn't the same experience. He wonders what the 37 basis is for the ordinance, and he noted the proximity of the highway and the noise created by 38 that. 39 Michael Brough said he would like to address a couple of issues. He said if the choice 40 of a variance was available, that would have been pursued. He said the consensus was that 41 the variance opportunity is not a real possibility. He said the conditional use permit is out as an 42 option, and so is an appeal. He said the only realistic way to cure this is the legislative solution 43 before the Board. He addressed Commissioner Gordon's question about a universal change. 44 He said he is very sensitive to this, and he represents a number of local governments. He is 45 very sensitive to an ordinance change being broader than the needs of the particular applicant; 46 however he is frequently called upon to craft legislative solutions to deal with particular 47 situations like this one. 48 49 He said the reality is that the applicant has drafted a very narrow amendment, and it only 50 affects 200 acres, and quite likely it will only affect this property owner. He said this is not a 51 question of amending an ordinance of universal applicability or not. He said the realistic choice