From left, City Council members Dave Winslow, Jody Levchuk, Keith Hartzell and Sean Barnes listen during the discussion for the new dog-related ordinance.
Doggie daycare? Maybe. Puppy mills? Definitely not.
Ocean City has given final approval to a new ordinance that may lead to doggie daycare businesses in town for the first time – provided they could secure rigorous zoning approvals. Puppy mills, however, would not be allowed.
“This ordinance does not approve puppy mills,” City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said during the Jan. 23 City Council meeting.
The ordinance was adopted by a 4-2 vote, with Council President Pete Madden abstaining. He did not announce the reason for abstaining. Council members Terry Crowley, Tony Polcini, Dave Winslow and Sean Barnes voted in favor.
Council members Keith Hartzell and Jody Levchuk cast no votes after voicing concerns that the ordinance could somehow open the door to the possibility of puppy mills operating in Ocean City.
Hartzell said he had researched large-scale puppy mill breeding operations and found them to be “bad news.”
“I cannot support the sale of puppy mill dogs in Ocean City, New Jersey,” said Hartzell, a dog lover who owns a Yorkie named Fletcher.
After the Council meeting, Levchuk said he feared that the ordinance could provide a loophole for a puppy mill owner to operate in Ocean City.
“There’s a pathway to get a mercantile license,” said Levchuk, also a dog lover who owns a Doberman pinscher named Moses and a Maltipoo named Mitzi.
McCrosson, though, repeatedly assured Hartzell, Levchuk and the other Council members that dog-breeding operations, including puppy mills, simply are not permitted in Ocean City.
“There’s nothing in here that says puppy mill,” McCrosson said, referring to the ordinance.
Currently, dog breeders, kennels and pet stores are prohibited in Ocean City. The new ordinance continues the ban on those types of businesses, McCrosson said.
With kennels being banned, doggie daycare centers had also been outlawed. Previously, even if the owner of a doggie daycare center was able to secure a zoning variance, Ocean City did not allow a mercantile license for that type of business.
The new ordinance, however, would allow a mercantile license to be issued – if the owner of a doggie day care business succeeded in obtaining a zoning variance.
But it won’t be an easy path for would-be doggie daycare owners. McCrosson explained it would be a “heavy lift” for a doggie daycare business to obtain a zoning variance, especially if there was opposition from neighbors living nearby.
“All this ordinance says is if somebody gets a variance to operate some sort of a pet-related enterprise, they can get a mercantile license,” McCrosson said.
When the ordinance was first discussed and introduced during the Jan. 9 Council meeting, McCrosson said then that the ordinance was prompted by someone who has expressed interest in opening a doggie daycare business. No details of the business, including the owner’s name or where it would be located, have been announced.
During the Jan. 9 meeting, Hartzell said doggie daycare is long overdue in Ocean City. Referring to the popularity of pet sitting in other towns, he called Ocean City “behind the times.”
Knowing that many families choose their vacation destination based on its pet-friendly reputation, Ocean City touts itself, as Hartzell put it, as a “dog town.”
Hartzell voted in favor of the ordinance when it was introduced by a 5-0 vote on Jan. 9. Levchuk and Winslow were absent from that meeting.
Hartzell said he simply could not support the ordinance during the final Council vote on Jan. 23 because of his concerns it could lead to puppy mills operating in town.
“It will not happen. If that doesn’t say that, then I’m out,” Hartzell said of his no vote unless there was tighter language in the ordinance to outlaw puppy mills.
Ocean City has promoted its reputation as a dog-friendly town through a number of special events and with places for owners to take their canines.
The city has long had a dog park at 45th Street and Haven Avenue. During the offseason, the city lifts its ban on dogs on the beaches. Dogs are permitted on the beaches from Oct. 1 to April 30, provided they are on a leash and their owners clean up any messes.
Ocean City is also known for its wacky Doo Dah celebration and parade each April headlined by hundreds of basset hounds.
Normally, dogs are banned from the Boardwalk, but the city allows the canines to take over during the annual Howl-O-Ween Parade in October. Hosted by the Humane Society of Ocean City, the Howl-O-Ween Parade drew more 400 dogs last year, many dressed in colorful and outlandish costumes.
The parade is part of an entire “Dog Days” weekend in October that allows leashed dogs on the Boardwalk on Saturday and Sunday.