Code Section: 312
Subject: "Pet Day Care for Dogs"
Effective Date: 1/07
Interpretation:
Pet day care for dogs, the daytime care of domestic dogs belonging to persons not residing on the premises, is an emerging land use which has not been contemplated under existing Planning Code provisions. It should be noted, however, that controls relating to "personal" dogs exist in the Health Code and allow a household to maintain three such dogs at any one time. Because no substantial land use distinction between "personal" dogs and dogs belonging to individuals residing off-site is evident, the daytime or overnight care of three or fewer dogs - regardless of animal guardianship - is exempt from regulation under the Planning Code. In contrast, overnight animal boarding on a larger scale is subject to existing "animal kennel" Planning Code regulations. These provisions continue to apply to facilities which (a) offer animal breeding, (b) provide overnight boarding for more than three dogs at any one time, or (c) do not meet either set of restrictions identified below:
(1) "
Neighborhood-serving doggie day care facilities" are those which (a) care for no more than 12 dogs at any one time and (b) provide no outdoor activity on site. This grouping maintains land use characteristics similar to animal groomers, which in turn have been classified as retail uses under previous interpretations. Accordingly, these uses are subject to Planning Code "retail" controls and are further subject to neighborhood notification under Code Section 312 in all NC zoning districts regardless of the previous use on the property. Notification is felt to be appropriate given the unique potential externalities of doggie day care that were not contemplated when existing neighborhood notification provisions were crafted.
(2) "
District-serving canine day care facilities" are those which contain more than 12 dogs and no more than 5,000 gross square feet. Because of the potential greater size and number of animals cared for, this classification maintains land use characteristics similar to animal hospitals and therefore to be regulated as such.