Hoover zoning board pushes pause on Pet Paradise in Trace Crossings

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night postponed a decision on a pet grooming and boarding facility in Trace Crossings, calling the proposal “problematic.”

American Pet Resorts wants to build a 15,000-square-foot Pet Paradise facility that can board up to 175 dogs on a 2-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Stadium Trace Parkway and Brock’s Gap Parkway.

But several zoning commissioners said they have a problem with a facility that wants to allow up to 75 dogs outside at a time that close to residents.

Numerous residents of the Chestnut Ridge community spoke against putting the boarding facility at that location. The facility also is near the Park Trace community, and a new residential community under construction called Knox Square will have a homesite roughly 400 feet away from the proposed boarding facility, City Planner Mac Martin said.

Chestnut Ridge resident Bill McCanna said the dog barking also would be a nuisance to people who walk in the community and to people in outdoor dining areas across the street at The Village at Brock’s Gap.

Councilman Mike Shaw, who also sits on the zoning board, noted the city already has approved two pet boarding facilities in the past several years but under different circumstances.

When the City Council approved a PetSuites Resort off John Hawkins Parkway near Lake Crest in February 2019, no dogs were allowed to be outside at all.

And when the council approved a Pet Paradise facility in Tattersall Park off U.S. 280 near Greystone in June of last year, the nearest home was more than 800 feet away with a 102-foot elevation change and wooded area in between.

In this case, “this is right in the middle of houses,” Shaw said.

American Pet Resorts is a great company with a great reputation, but “it always comes down to noise,” Shaw said. “I just don’t think this design makes sense without a lot of modifications to reflect the concerns about sound.”

Zoning board member Becky White had similar concerns.

“Ultimately, it comes down to the question of how many dogs are too many and how far is far enough from a residence,” White said. “I think it’s a marvelous facility, but is this the right location? … It’s problematic for me.”

City Administrator Allan Rice, another member of the zoning board, asked a representative for American Pet Resorts whether his company has any design concepts for completely indoor facilities or whether his company would be willing to consider something like that, just as PetSuites Resort did.

James Inman, the real estate acquisition manager for American Pet Resorts, said the indoor/outdoor concept is what his company is building all across the Southeast and Southwest.

“This is what our customers want for their pets,” Inman said. “They want their dogs to be able to engage with others and play out in the sun.”

The company can limit the number of dogs outside at one time to 75 and limit the hours that dogs are allowed outside, Inman said.

“But in terms of putting a big shell over the top, that’s not something that we’re going to do here,” he said. “It’s not what our customers want. It’s not what makes Pet Paradise Pet Paradise.”

However, Charlie Beavers, a Birmingham area attorney representing American Pet Resorts, after seeing the opposition from zoning board members and consulting further with Inman, said the company would be willing to go back to the drawing board and consider modifications to the proposal that might make it more acceptable.

That’s what prompted the zoning board to continue the case until April 11.

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PROPOSED RESTRICTIONS

During the hearing, Beavers noted that Pet Paradise was willing to keep all dogs inside between 7 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. and said when dogs are allowed outside in groups, no individual group would have more than 20 dogs, and a staff member would be there to keep the dogs engaged, which would help curtail barking.

In addition to boarding services, Pet Paradise offers day camps, grooming services and veterinary care (including for dogs not staying at the facility), Beavers said. There also would be on-site caretaker there 24 hours a day, he said.

Pet Paradise facilities typically employ about 25 people and have 12-15 employees on site during hours the facility is open to the public, Beavers has said.

On typical days, Pet Paradise facilities have 20-40 dogs in day camp, 8-15 dogs being boarded during weekdays and 15-40 dogs being boarded on weekends, Beavers said last year. Peak times with more dogs are during the holidays, he said.

Pet Paradise facilities do not accept pregnant, aggressive or unvaccinated dogs, Beavers said.

The company has taken numerous measures to reduce noise coming from its facilities across the country, Beavers said. The facility itself is heavily soundproofed with 1 foot of foam insulation in the roofing on top of insulated block, he said.

In addition to outdoor play areas, dogs also are allowed outside on individual patios outside their suites twice a day for “potty breaks” and while their suites are being cleaned, but the limit of 75 dogs outside applies to all dogs, Beavers said.

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

Restrictions being considered for this site also would require that the dumpster have a roof over it to keep rainwater out and that the dumpster be serviced an “adequate number of times per day to prevent odor.”

Martin said city staff recommended approval of the boarding facility with a limit of 45 dogs outside at one time and with slightly different hours than proposed by American Pet Resorts.

The recommendation from city staff was to keep all dogs indoors between 6 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday and until noon on Sundays because the facility would be right next to Discovery United Methodist Church.

Beavers said the company might need some kind of accommodation to give dogs a later “potty break” on Saturday night if they were to be kept inside until noon on Sundays.

Chestnut Ridge resident Jim McKittrick said he moved to Trace Crossings to get away from barking dogs in Bluff Park, knowing a homeowners association could help deal with noise complaints.

“Any open-air facility is totally incompatible,” McKittrick said.

McCanna said if the city will protect residents near the PetSuites Resort from unwanted noise by forbidding outdoor areas, it should do the same for residents of Trace Crossings. Not to do so would be treating residents of Trace Crossings like “second-class citizens,” he said.

In other business Monday night, the Hoover zoning board:

• Gave approval for a new 5,400-square-foot commercial building to be built at 2154 Clearbrook Road and 775 Shades Mountain Plaza, to include a 3,000-square-foot office space and two 1,200-square-foot retail spaces. The building is to be built right next to the eastern portion of Shades Mountain Plaza.
• Agreed to allow only one business, instead of two, in a building planned for construction in Stadium Trace Village next to the Chipotle/Sleep Number building.
• Approved 106 residential lots in phases eight and nine of the Blackridge South community, south of Trace Crossings.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 8:01 a.m. on March 15 to correct the last name of the attorney representing American Pet Resorts in the first reference.