Neighbors Voice Opposition to Proposed Dog Kennel in Ocean City

They say they are not anti-dog. But they are anti-dog kennel.

Residents and business owners clustered near the proposed site of a doggie hotel and daycare center on Seventh Street are stepping up their opposition to the project by urging City Council to ban dog kennels altogether in Ocean City.

They crowded into the Council chambers during a meeting Thursday night to complain about the harm they believe a dog kennel would cause to their neighborhood.

As they have been doing since the project was first proposed in March, they expressed concerns that there would be incessant noise from barking dogs, foul odors and dogs pooping on their lawns.

Colette Bellefleur, a spokesperson for the neighbors, said in remarks to Council that their opposition to the dog kennel “is not hating dogs or not liking dogs.”

“So, this is not about not loving dogs. We love dogs. I have a dog. My neighbor has a dog. Two doors down across the street has dogs,” Bellefleur said.

She went on to explain that the residents and business owners are worried that a dog kennel would drive down property values and disrupt the peace and quiet of their neighborhood. Other neighbors raised similar concerns during the Council meeting.

“We want to be heard because we are not against bringing new businesses to the neighborhood, and we’re not against dogs,” Bellefleur said. “We know that we are adjacent to a very alive and useful business community, and we welcome new businesses that will vitalize and beautify our neighborhood, not stink it up. I apologize for my words, but we want to get the message across.”

    This commercial building at 204 Seventh Street would have been renovated for the doggie hotel and daycare center if the project had received approval from the zoning board.
  

A developer had proposed opening a doggie hotel and daycare center in a two-story commercial building at 204 Seventh Street in downtown Ocean City. However, he fell one vote short of gaining approval for the project during a zoning board meeting on March 20.

Opponents of the project, including residents and business owners in the area of Seventh Street, pleaded with the zoning board not to approve the dog hotel. They expressed concerns about excessive noise from barking, odor problems and the possibility of neighbors’ lawns being fouled by dog excrement.

There were also members of the public who turned out in support of the project. They said a doggie hotel is badly needed in Ocean City and would be another attraction to help draw tourists to town, especially the ones who have trouble finding pet-friendly vacation accommodations.

The board vote was 4-3 in favor of the dog hotel and daycare center, but five affirmative votes – a so-called “super-majority” – were required for a zoning variance needed for the project.

The doggie hotel developer, Jake Gallagher, has since put the building up for sale for $879,900. But he told OCNJDaily.com that he may appeal the zoning board’s vote to try to resurrect his plans for the doggie hotel and daycare center.

Gallagher also said that he is considering other possible options for the building, including turning it into a private pickleball club or converting it into a mental health center for recovering alcohol and drug abusers.

“All options are on the table,” Gallagher said in an interview with OCNJDaily.com.

    Doggie hotel developer Jake Gallagher, right, speaks with audience members after the zoning board hearing on March 20.
  

Gallagher's comments have reignited fears among the Seventh Street neighbors that the dog kennel could be revived, prompting them to ask City Council for help to block the project and others like it.

“We are here because we are concerned about how close the zoning variance vote was. So, we all met, we formed a committee, and we voted unanimously, 30 residents and counting, against any kind of doggie daycare, kennel, call it what you like, in our community or anywhere in Ocean City, for that manner,” Bellefleur told Council of the neighbors’ opposition.

Currently, dog kennels are not allowed in any parts of Ocean City. However, Council approved a new city ordinance on Jan. 23 that would allow dog hotels and kennels to open if the owners are able to first secure use variances from the zoning board.

The neighbors who oppose the doggie hotel and kennel want Council to repeal the ordinance to prevent any such business from ever being built in Ocean City.

Tom Heist, who owns an insurance business on Seventh Street, next door to the proposed doggie hotel, called on Council to reverse the ordinance because he believes that a kennel would be too disruptive to the neighborhood, as well as other parts of town.

“Just to be clear, our neighborhood is not afraid of change. We just don’t want change with a foreseeable terrible outcome,” Heist said during the Council meeting.

    Tom Heist, an insurance company owner whose business is located next door to the proposed dog hotel, warns that the project would have "a terrible outcome."
  

Keith Hartzell and Jody Levchuk were the only Council members who voted against the new ordinance when it came up for a final vote on Jan. 23. They expressed concern that the ordinance would provide a legal pathway for dog breeding or puppy mills in town. City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson told Hartzell and Levchuk that the ordinance would not allow dog breeding or puppy mills.

At Thursday’s meeting, Levchuk mentioned the possibility of Council having a “re-discussion” of the ordinance. He asked McCrosson how that could be done.

McCrosson told Levchuk that Council could simply adopt another ordinance, if that’s what it wanted to do.

“You ask me to write an ordinance, and I write it,” McCrosson said. “I’ll be happy to write it for you.”

After listening to the concerns of the neighbors about dog kennels, Council members Sean Barnes and Tony Polcini indicated they would be willing to consider changing or possibly reversing the existing ordinance.

“Obviously we don’t want to diminish anybody’s quality of life when we make decisions,” Barnes said.

Polcini explained that when he first voted for the ordinance, he considered the need for a doggie daycare business in town. He said he thought it would help tourists find a place to take care of their dogs while they were vacationing in Ocean City.

But based on the objections voiced by the Seventh Street neighbors, Polcini said he might be receptive now to changing the ordinance to ban doggie daycare businesses.

“Maybe we can do something where there’s no doggie daycares,” he said.

    City Council may revisit a new ordinance that gives a legal pathway to open dog kennels in Ocean City.