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Hoover zoning board recommends approval for pet facility in Tattersall Park

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Map courtesy of city of Hoover

Map courtesy of city of Hoover

Map courtesy of city of Hoover

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night recommended the City Council approve plans for a Pet Paradise grooming and boarding facility for up to 175 pets in the Tattersall Park development next to Greystone.

Several Greystone residents objected to the pet facility, saying they were concerned that barking from so many dogs would disrupt their serenity, but the zoning board voted in favor of the pet facility with some conditions.

The proposed facility would be on 2 acres at the corner of Greystone Way and Tattersall Boulevard and include outdoor runs and play areas, on-site veterinary care and a residence quarters for a 24-hour caretaker.

Connie Devoe, who lives on Berwick Road (the closest road in Greystone), said she’s an animal lover with three cats and, while having veterinary care so close by might be convenient, the sound of dogs barking all day does not sound appealing to her.

“I work at home. I work outside,” Devoe said. “It sounds like that would be a very big disruption to my work.”

Normal dog barking is about 60 decibels, and “when you’ve got a bunch of dogs together, it can easily go above 115 decibels, which is deafening to your ears,” she said.

Another Greystone resident said there are a lot of senior citizens in the garden homes closest to Tattersall Park and residents there don’t want this pet boarding facility at all. They’re not only concerned about barking, but also the smell and impact of pet waste on water in the area.

James Inman, the real estate acquisition manager for Pet Paradise (based in Jacksonville, Florida), said the company has more than 50 of these pet resorts either operating or in development and frequently faces concerns about noise.

“The building that we’ve constructed is an insulated, soundproof building,” Inman said. “You will not hear any noise at all when the pets are housed. Our company is very careful about keeping the dogs active so they are not a nuisance to surrounding property owners.”

Dogs tend to bark more when they are bored and inside, Inman said.

“We’ve found that over the years that when dogs are outside running, playing in the pool, engaging in exercise, they’re not barking.”

At Pet Paradise, dogs are taken to an outside play area for 30 minutes three times a day, but no more than 25 dogs are taken to that area at the same time, Inman said. While they are there, Pet Paradise has three to four play time coordinators monitoring the dogs and keeping them engaged, he said.

However, the dog suites also have runs that allows the dogs to go outside to an enclosed area adjacent to their individual suites as the dogs please, said Charlie Beavers, an attorney representing Pet Paradise.

Those outdoor access points can be controlled, and no dogs will be allowed outside between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., according to a restriction added by the planning commission.

Pet Paradise originally had agreed to restrict outdoor access from sunset to sunrise, but planning commissioners favored the idea of putting specific times on those limitations.

Other conditions put in place by the planning commission were:

Inman said Pet Paradise has designed a sophisticated underground drainage system that will keep 99.9% of pet waste from entering into the stormwater system.

Hoover Councilman Mike Shaw, the council’s representative on the planning commission, noted that the City Council in February 2019 approved a PetSuites Resort for up to 182 animals at 2311 John Hawkins Parkway. In that case, the council eliminated all outdoor play areas.

However, that situation was much different because the PetSuites property had houses on Pine Rock Lane right up against it, Shaw said.

At the Tattersall Park property, the Pet Paradise facility would be at least 465 feet from the Greystone residential community boundary and about 715 feet from the closest residence, Hoover City Planner Mac Martin said.

Shaw said the homes in Greystone appear to be far enough away and with enough vegetation between them and the Pet Paradise that he doesn’t expect the dog barking to be a problem.

However, Shaw said he would do the same thing he did with PetSuites and call around the country to other residents and businesses near Pet Paradise facilities and ask them if the dog barking is a nuisance to them.

If he finds there are too many problems in other areas by the time this issue gets to the Hoover City Council, more restrictions might need to be considered, Shaw said.

The Planning Commission voted 7-1 to recommend the City Council approve the Pet Paradise request. Planning Commissioner Carl West voted against the proposal, and Planning Commissioner Nathan Reed was absent.

West said his main concern was that nearby residents might be impacted negatively from barking dogs, and the Pet Paradise representatives did not address questions about that adequately enough for him to vote in favor of it.

The proposal now is expected to go to the Hoover City Council for a public hearing and a vote on June 21.

In other business Monday, the planning commission:

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