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Need to leave Rufus somewhere for a day or two? Not sure where he would be allowed to stay?
The Spokane Valley City Council is working on it.
In the first of what could be several tweakings to the Uniform Development
Code approved last year, the council Tuesday gave its initial blessing to allow indoor kennels and “doggy day care” businesses to exist in neighborhood commercial, regional commercial and corridor mixed-use zones in the city.
While there are some Spokane Valley-area kennel businesses already in existence, Kathy McClung, community development director, said there haven’t been any applicants to start such an enterprise since the city incorporated.
“We haven’t had any requests for doggy day care before,” McClung told the council.
Lonnie and Jeanne Kelp hope to start an indoor kennel in Spokane Valley and applied for a business permit prior to the council’s adoption of the UDC last October. The couple was initially told it would be allowed in a mixed-use commercial zone. However, after the UDC was adopted, kennels were no longer allowed in that zone. Since the Kelps hadn’t actually submitted their application yet, they weren’t vested under the old rules.
The matter then went before the Planning Commission, which unanimously agreed to allow the change and forwarded the decision to the City Council.
As the city’s comprehensive plan – and the overall goal of the new city center – is to incorporate businesses and residential into areas where they can co-exist, some city officials were concerned how pet hotels and condominiums might get along.
“Has there been any thoughts about noise during the night?” asked Deputy Mayor Dick Denenny.
McClung said that any business that housed several anxious, yapping animals overnight would have to be soundproofed under the city’s rules.
Mayor Richard Munson wondered if it would be a good idea to include a provision that the animals had to be monitored 24 hours a day to make certain noise issues could be address.
Lonnie Kelp said that his business would do that no matter what, not only to control barking but also for the animals’ safety in case of fire or other emergency.
“We don’t allow the dogs to be by themselves,” he said. “We’ll have somebody there 24 hours.”
The council requested staff research the possibility of making the 24-hour monitoring a requirement and also to see what veterinarians’ in the area think of the issue.
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By
Mike Huffman
