NEWBERRY – A proposed update to Newberry’s regulations governing commercial kennels and small animal boarding facilities drew a large crowd Monday night, prompting city commissioners to move the discussion to the beginning of the meeting and spend much of the evening hearing public comments.
Although many attendees believed the proposed ordinance changes could affect ET Mutt Hutt, a local boarding facility, City Manager Jordan Marlowe repeatedly emphasized that no action would be taken during the July 13 City Commission meeting and that the proposed revisions were not aimed at any specific business.
Because of the number of residents who signed up to speak, commissioners amended the agenda to hear the item first.
Many speakers praised ET Mutt Hutt and its operation, urging commissioners not to adopt changes they feared could threaten the business. Several said they rely on the kennel when traveling and asked city officials to preserve the facility.
Marlowe said the proposed revisions are intended to resolve inconsistencies and clarify existing city regulations rather than target a particular operation.
“The ordinance that we have has conflicting passages, scriveners errors and doesn’t define what a commercial kennel is. It also uses different vocabulary,” Marlowe said.
“The real question is, ‘Does the Commission want to clarify in the ordinance what a commercial kennel is and [what] a small-scale kennel is and set the guidelines for each?'”
Community Development Director Stacey Hectus presented research comparing Newberry’s ordinance with regulations adopted by other municipalities.
“Many municipalities do not differentiate between large kennels and small boarding facilities,” Hectus said.
According to her research, many jurisdictions prohibit noise from enclosed kennel areas during overnight hours, commonly from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. City staff recommended adjusting those hours to 9 p.m. through 7 a.m. to align with Newberry’s existing noise ordinance.
“Some only required structures be designed to suppress noise,” Hectus said.
Hectus also outlined several potential standards staff identified during its review. She said many communities allow between 40 and 50 dogs at boarding facilities and require a 25-foot buffer from surrounding properties, increasing to about 40 feet when adjacent to residential uses.
Staff also recommended maintaining a minimum 10-acre site requirement for commercial kennel facilities, a concept previously discussed by commissioners in February, and establishing a 300-foot separation between small animal boarding facilities and residential structures.
Several residents questioned whether a 300-foot setback would adequately protect nearby homeowners from barking and other noise.
One speaker told commissioners her back porch is approximately 850 feet from ET Mutt Hutt and played an audio recording that she said captured barking that could be heard from her property.
Another issue discussed was whether kennel applications should continue requiring approval through the city’s special exception process.
Hectus suggested that future code revisions could establish more objective standards and allow applications meeting those requirements to receive administrative approval.
“When writing the Code sections, make it definitive and as an administrative approval, possibly using a check list format,” she said.
Marlowe also noted that the city has not received any code enforcement complaints related to the issue.
He added that residents who believe violations exist remain free to pursue the city’s code enforcement process.
After hearing public comments and discussing possible revisions, commissioners took no action on the ordinance.
Instead, city officials said additional work is needed before any proposed changes return for formal consideration.
Marlowe recommended that staff move forward with correcting inconsistencies in the existing ordinance regardless of what policy decisions commissioners ultimately make, saying those revisions are necessary in any event.
After the discussion concluded, commissioners took no action on the proposed ordinance and continued with the remainder of the meeting agenda.
City officials said a public workshop will be scheduled to allow commissioners, staff and residents to continue discussing potential revisions and address remaining questions. No date for the workshop was announced Monday night, but officials said it will be publicly advertised once scheduled.
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