TOWN OF CONCORD PLAN COMMISSION MINUTES
June 23, 2021
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. with Plan Commission members Lloyd Zastrow, Jim Gilbert, Carole Hoffmeister, Sally Williams, and Kim Miller present.
The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Sally Williams stated that the meeting had been properly posted.
Carole Hoffmeister made a motion to approve the minutes from the May 26, 2021 meeting, seconded by Jim Gilbert. All approved. Motion passed.
Donald Popp requested a Conditional Use Permit to operate a Kennel and Dog Training Facility in an existing .964 acre A-2 zone at 6189 County Road F (parcel # 006-0716-1644-000). His tenant Otto Sturm would operate the kennel and represented Donald Popp at the meeting. Mr. Popp was not present. Mr. Sturm briefly outlined his proposal (see attached write-up). The site would be 600-700 feet from the nearest neighbor. Ninety percent of the training would take place indoors. Any outdoor training would be behind the buildings to further deaden the noise. He outlined an area to be fenced in for the operation and indicated that landscaping would be done to buffer any noise. He currently operates his business in Oconomowoc. Jim Gilbert, Carole Hoffmeister, and Sally Williams had all visited the facility and agreed it was quiet and well maintained.
The board questioned Mr. Sturm regarding the training that had taken place on the property previous summers. This was something the neighbors had complained about extensively at the previous meeting. The barking and dog whistles throughout the day each weekend was very annoying. Mr. Sturm indicated that this training is in conjunction with a sport he participates in. He has moved the training equipment for the sport away from the front of the property for now and said he will move this activity to behind the buildings or inside the second building. He is also looking at a separate site for the group to meet.
Seven neighbors (Thoeles, Malones, Gartzkes, Dama) were present and all spoke against the proposal. Concerns included noise, traffic, property values, and safety. Neighbors indicated that training that has occurred regularly at the site in past summers has been a nuisance with campers coming and staying for the weekends and training throughout the weekend creating a noise nuisance. Neighbors feel that giving a permit for a kennel would make an already annoying situation worse.
Neighbor Jake Thoele submitted a text conversation with Mr. Sturm which centered around an aggressive dog on the property. He is concerned with safety if such dogs are loose on the property as he has small children. Mr. Sturm said the dog in question was one he was training and is no longer on the property.
Mr. Thoele also reminded the board that according to the Town Plan: “Businesses that require rezoning or conditional use permits file applications that are evaluated by both the County and the Town on a case-by-case basis. To provide the greatest degree of protection to the Town’s existing rural character, the Town intends to continue this practice for the foreseeable future, examining all applications for rezoning or conditional use to determine whether they are consistent with the Town’s adopted plan, goals, and policies and with protection of public health, safety, and welfare in the Town for years to come.”
Board members made the following observations: 1) Based on the description by Mr. Sturm, the operation would extend well outside the boundaries of the existing A-2 zone. It is difficult to see how the whole operation with parking, outdoor training, breaking the dogs, etc. could fit in the A-2 area. 2) Adherence to the Town Plan and consistency with past decisions is necessary. 3) A purpose of zoning is to direct development so that incompatible uses are not located next to each other. This area has developed as a residential area and it doesn’t seem appropriate to put a kennel in the middle of such development.
Based on neighbor opposition and the above concerns of the board, Sally Williams made a motion to recommend that the request for a CUP for a kennel operation not be approved. Second by Jim Gilbert. Jim, Sally and Kim approved the motion. Carole did not approve. Lloyd abstained. Motion passed.
With no further business, Lloyd Zastrow made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Jim Gilbert. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Sally Williams, Plan Commission secretary
Attached:
Proposed use
To Train dogs and some over night boarding.
We presently operate You and Your Dog LLC Canine in the Oconomowoc at 1265 Corporate Center Drive. Our business is three years old and we are now out of room in our five thousand sq. ft. building with no physical room to grow. Our intent is to move our business to the Concord area. This is a 36.9 acre parcel which would give us room to operate and be far enough from other land owners as not to be noticed. To do this we would remodel the present building which is now used for boat storage. In the future as business would grow we would like to add a larger training facility. This would be done converting the other larger shed.
The average time for a dog to stay and be trained is 14 days. The dogs that stay overnight number around 30, this varies with time of year and Holidays. We have 12 trainers and the reseptionist who are passionate about all the dogs, the training, and the care they receive. Only 6 or 7 trainers are at work at one time with rotating of the hours.
We take great pride in the cleaniness and care of each dog.
We are now helping a Navy Vettran Tina Leet with the training of her new service dog. It was picked by Kristi and Otto from a local breeder
The operation would be from 8:00am to 5:00pm with some weekend training. The automobile traffic is about 12 to 16 cars per day and there is parking for this amount at this time. We train all types of dogs including police dogs.
There would not have to be any land modifications short of normal requirements.
With todays GPS a small sign 2 x 7 foot is all that would be needed.
The dog waste would be put in a dumpster and hauled by a licensed contractor.
One Last Item, We competed, by invitation only to show our dogs at the Westminster Dog Show, the Super Bowl of dog shows.