I don't have a similar story but you should go to the zoning hearing and express any concerns you have to them.
Things I can imagine as problems:
Increased traffic (those dogs and cats have to get there, if this is a kennel where they stay while people are on vacation or such that is 150 cars a week X 2 (delivery and pickup).
Is this a paved road? Who maintains the road? Find out and go to the head of the department and ask him what the extra traffic will cost the county every year in additonal maintenence. He may want to get involved in the hearing if it is going to be a problem for him. At least try to get him to give you an estimate of any additional cost. When you make your presentation you can say "Mr. John Doe, Director of Road Maintenance for the county told me on March 29th that he anticipated that the additional traffic to this facility would require increased maintenance of the road at a cost of approximately $XXXX dollars per year."
Noise-this could be addressed by fencing and locating the kennels at the rear of the property.
Odors-This is a biggie. 150 dog piles a day adds up to a lot of fertilizer.
Dog hair in the sewage system-If you are on a public sewer system you may want to contact the head of the sewer department about this. They will be required to put in a macerator to grind the dog and cat hair or the sewers will be stopping up. Talk to the head of the sewage department and get the same information like I stated in the part about roads.
If this in not on a public sewer but a septic system talk to the county health department and be sure to mention the hair issue. I can imagine a septic system would have to be pumped regularly since the hair will float and go into the field lines and stop them up.
Rabies-Are they going to have an isolation area available in case an animal is suspected of having rabies. With this size operation this might be a consideration.
Kennel or health department permits-They may be required to get a permit from the county health dept. for a facility this size.
Health issues-This is a biggie. If 1 dog comes in with parvovirus the whole kennel can be wiped out. I have seen shelters that had to euthanize every dog in the shelter and then clean the entire shelter, floors, walls, etc. with bleach water to kill the virus. It was kinder to euthanize the dogs than let them all die from the disease. BTW, this is one good reason all dogs should see the Vet annually.
Flies-What provisions have they made for fly and insect control?
What provisions are there for a daily wash down of all kennels? Kennels have to be washed down daily to maintain sanitation.
These are all legitimate problems that need to be addressed. If they can address them to your (and the other neighbors satisfaction) then you may be able to live with it.
If this is a legitimate business they should have already addressed all of these potential problems. A kennel of that size, if designed and run properly, is an expensive proposition. If this is some idiot with 90 acres and a half baked scheme to make money you need to help the zoning board find a way to deny the application. I can envision some idiot who thinks he can put up a fence and put all the animals inside it. At least the dogs would have plenty to eat after he added the cats!
Find out what the present zoning is for that and the surrounding properties and what the proposed zoning would be. Find the definitions for the type of zoning so you know what the different classifications allow.
See if you can show that the proposed zoning is so incompatible with the surrounding zoning as to be impractical. Reasonable zoning should be transitional, i.e.: Residential, next to light commercial (strip shopping centers), heavy commercial beyond that, and finally industrial beyond that. This gives the residential a 'buffer' area between them and the manufacturing plants.
Please, write all your questions down and take them to the hearing. Do NOT trust your memory. Make your presentation professional. One thing I have found in dealing with various government entities is that a lot of folks think that an emotional appeal will work. It will NOT. The zoning board has laws they have to follow so your presentation must address the legal aspects. Leave the emotionalism out of it. As much as possible use statements like I gave in the traffic section. Use as many names of county employees as you can along with the dates you talked to them and any $ figures they can give you.
The future owner of the property should be present at the zoning hearing to address all these issues. If he is not prepared with ready answers at the hearing it will demonstrate to the zoning board that this is not a well planned venture. I say 'future owner' because in most cases someone offers to buy the property with the contingency that it can be rezoned for their proposed use. If they zoning doesn't go through the sale doesn't go through.
If you make a professional presentation of your concerns and the kennel guy does not even have a set of preliminay plans you have a good chance. At the very least you can get the process postponed until he has a set of plans drawn by a professional along with answers to all of your questions. If this is a haphazard idea he will not spend the money to have plans drawn and the zoning board will see that this is going to be a sloppy operation. If they do decide to change the zoning they can make it contingent on him doing whatever they want him to do to address the above issues.
DISCLAIMER: I am a licensed Texas Real Estate Salesperson and the above is not intended to be legal advice. If in doubt about any real estate matter contact an attorney.
Bill Tolle
