Resistance arises to PetSuites Resort along John Hawkins Parkway

A plan to put Alabama’s first PetSuites Resort along John Hawkins Parkway was met with some resistance tonight at the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

Two residents and some planning commissioners expressed concerns about the amount of noise and odors that might come from a facility designed to hold up to 140 dogs and cats.

Kiritkumar Parekh of Vestavia Hills is proposing to put the 14,240-square-foot, single-story pet grooming, nutrition and boarding facility on 2 acres along John Hawkins Parkway between the CVS near Shades Crest Road and the office building holding the UAB medical clinic.

Two residents who live on Pine Rock Lane, which is directly behind the property, said they have mixed feelings about the proposed pet resort.

They’ve met with representatives for the developer and appreciate their willingness to work with residents to lessen the impact of a pet day care, grooming and boarding facility, but they’re very concerned about the noise and odors.

“We’re going to hear those dogs. You can’t tell me we’re not,” resident Chris Shows said.

There’s a day care across Alabama 150, and people on Pine Rock Lane hear the children when they go out to play, she said. Dogs right behind them are certainly going to be heard, she said.

Jon Rasmussen, an engineer representing the property owner, said workers would take animals outside for breaks in groups, not all at one time.

City Planner Mac Martin said city staff recommend approval of the PetSuites Resort with several conditions:

• No animals would be allowed to be outside after sunset or before sunrise.
• Landscaping and buffering must be installed as proposed by the property owner.
• All lighting shall be cast down to eliminate light pollution to neighbors.
• Animal waste in the outdoor play area shall not be allowed to leach into the soil and groundwater, and the owner shall implement an underground storage and waste treatment program, approved by the city engineer, to handle pet waste.
• The outdoor garbage container shall have a roof over it to prevent rainwater from getting into pet waste and draining out.

Martin said staff want to make sure that the pet waste doesn’t get into the groundwater.

The PetSuites Resort also is seeking changes to zoning conditions put on the property in 2001. The company wants to use metal wall panels on the exterior of the building, which are now prohibited, and wants to remove a requirement for a residential-style hip (sloped) roof and restrictions limiting the height of walls to 18 feet.

Instead, the PetSuites Resort wants to have a flat roof and have parapet walls 5 feet higher than the roof to mask or cover any rooftop mechanical structures, Martin said.

City staff members don’t have a problem with the flat roof or parapet walls, but they are concerned that metal walls are out of character with Hoover’s typical commercial corridors and would be more appropriate in an industrial or warehouse district, Martin said.

Planning Commissioner Sammy Harris wanted more information about the type of metal walls that are being proposed and what the company would do to mask odors and sound.

Mike Brown, an attorney representing the property owner, said that the walls being proposed do have insulation and that PetSuites Resort would use chemicals to help block odors.

Mike Shaw, a city councilman who also sits on the zoning board, said PetSuites sounds like a really cool business, but he is concerned about it being so close to a whole street of houses.

“You could potentially destroy the environment in that whole neighborhood,” Shaw said.

He wishes they could find a location in an industrial area, he said.

Planning Commission Chairman Mike Wood suggested the property owner ask for a continuance of the case and come back with more answers about the metal walls and what the facility can do to mask the noise and odors. He also recommended the property owner or his representatives meet with the neighborhood again to try to get a more favorable recommendation from neighbors.

Brown said representatives for the property owner will address neighbors’ concerns the best they can. “We certainly think we can do it in a way that’s going to be acceptable,” he said.

The zoning board continued the case and will reconsider it on Aug. 13.

In other business tonight, the zoning board:

• Approved final plans for another office condominium in Phase 6 of the Southlake Park complex along Valleydale Road.
• Approved final plans for 23 residential lots in Phase 2C of the Lake Wilborn subdivision in Trace Crossings.
• Approved final plans for a resurvey of the Tattersall Park development near the intersection of U.S. 280 and Alabama 119.
• Rezoned recently annexed properties at 2151, 2155 and 2173 Silver Spur Lane and 1512, 1516, 1518, 1536 and 1542 Melton Road from a Jefferson County agricultural district to a Hoover agricultural district.
• Rezoned recently annexed property and 1863 and 1865 Buttercup Drive from a Jefferson County R-1 residential district to a Hoover R-1 single-family residential district.
• Voted in favor of creating a new standard for fire hydrants in Hoover to make fire hose connections easier and safer.
• Continued a request to allow construction of a parking lot on 1.2 acres on the Chase Corporate Center property at 1834 Montgomery Highway to provide extra parking for the former Cedar’s Grille site at 1870 Chace Drive. That request also will be heard on Aug. 13.

This article was updated at 11:12 p.m. to clarify the final item in the story. The request is to build extra parking at 1834 Montgomery HIghway to provide additional parking for the former Cedar's Grille site at 1876 Chace Drive. That restaurant is no longer open.