By Rohan Mattu
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Members of the Baltimore County Council and the public clashed with each other Tuesday over a proposed bill that would effectively shut down an Owings Mills dog training business.
The bill, which is being sponsored by Councilman Izzy Patoka, D-Second District, would retroactively require all commercial kennels, pet shops, and animal boarding establishments to be at least 200 feet from any nearby residential zone.
Some council members and residents said the proposal would have a major impact on the Follow My Lead dog training service located in a converted schoolhouse on Greenspring Valley Road because the business operates only 50 feet from the nearest residential homes. There is not enough space on the property for the company to move back.
“It’s pulling the rug out from underneath a business that already got permission from the county,” Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, D-Sixth District, said in a heated exchange with Patoka. “I don’t want you to get confused here – we are legislators – we pass laws.”
Patoka, who is serving his first term on the council after being elected last November, said he proposed the bill because there is an inconsistency in the current policy between zoning for private and commercial kennels.
“While private kennels must maintain a 200-foot setback in residential zones, larger and more intrusive commercial kennels are not subject to any setback whatsoever,” Patoka said. “Because kennels pose an inherent adverse effect on neighboring properties, a minimum setback in residential zones is only logical.”
According to county documents, the bill would clarify the setback required in areas zoned for residential use.
Follow My Lead opened its doors in early March, once it obtained zoning permission from Baltimore County. Since then, residents of the community wrote to Patoka with concerns of increased traffic and other disruption to their neighborhood.
Neighbors of the business have not complained directly to the owners, said co-owner Tiffany Stearns. “The only explanation afforded me was that ‘there will not be a commercial kennel here,’” Stearns said.
“Driving by, you don’t even know that we’re there, let alone that we’re working dogs,” said co-owner Mary Francis Dael.
Stearns told the council that residents’ concerns are primarily about increased traffic and waste. She said that the facility includes a relief pen, in which waste is disposed of immediately. She said residents have not complained about barking, adding that the service has a technique to reduce dogs barking.
Twenty-five people spoke to the council for more than two and a half hours on Tuesday. Most speakers were clients of the training service and supporters of the business.
“I go there and you don’t hear barking, you don’t smell anything – there’s no waste, the waste is picked up,” said Meryl Rosen, a client who lives off of Greenspring Avenue. “It’s aimed at one business and I don’t think that’s fair.”
Residents who supported the bill said the changes are needed to stop any possible increase in traffic that the dog business will bring to their otherwise peaceful neighborhood.
Bernard Cole Jr., a neighbor who shares a driveway with the service, said that an increase in traffic will detract from the time he spends outside with his son.
“A kennel so close to our property line and the additional traffic will impact our ability to enjoy the peaceful settings that we highly praise,” Cole said during the meeting.
Dr. Jonathan Kaufman, a client of the service and a veterinarian who is a resident of the Greenspring Valley area, explained that minimizing the business to the definition of a “commercial kennel” would be inaccurate.
“What I just want to make sure is that the current reality in this facility is not compared to the idea of a kennel, which I’m also very familiar with,” Kauffman said. “These are special people who want to go the extra step in making these dogs good citizens… Therefore, to make the generalization that it’s a kennel would be uninformed because it’s a very different kind of place.”
Others residents felt that introducing a business would be detrimental to the nature of the neighborhood.
“I cannot understand why this lady chose to zero in on this little community,” said Katharine Washburne, a longtime resident of the neighborhood. “Stevenson Village is about a mile east.I It’s already commercial. It has houses in it for her to cuddle the dogs and give it a homey feel.”
The council appeared to generally oppose the bill.
Councilman Tom Quirk, D-First District, said the bill was specifically designed to shut down Follow My Lead.
“This is about one business, clearly,” Quirk said. “If this wasn’t about one business then this would be proscriptive, not retroactive, plain and simple to me.”
“This has all the appearance of a circumvention of the judicial branch of the government,” said Councilman Todd Crandell, R-Seventh District, noting that a court would typically handle this kind of dispute.
In a humorous take on the dispute, Councilman Julian E. Jones, D-Fourth District, said that when he hears trains, planes, and animals at his rural home, “it just adds flavor to me. I don’t see these things as intrusive or burdensome.”
Councilman David Marks, R-Fifth District said he wished the council “could find a middle ground.”
The council will take up the measure at its meeting next week.