This commercial building at 204 Seventh Street would have been renovated for the doggie hotel and daycare center if the project had received approval from the zoning board.
Ocean City would effectively ban dog kennels throughout town under a new ordinance prompted by neighborhood opposition to a proposed doggie hotel and daycare center.
The proposed ordinance, unanimously introduced by City Council on Thursday night, would close off any possible legal pathway for developers to build dog kennels.
City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson told Council that the ordinance would prohibit the issuance of a city mercantile license for “anything that constitutes a kennel.” Without a mercantile license, a dog kennel would not be able to open for business.
In January, Council approved another ordinance that would have allowed dog kennel owners to obtain a mercantile license if they were first able to first secure a use variance from the zoning board for that type of business.
The new ordinance introduced Thursday would reverse the ordinance adopted in January. At its meeting on April 24, Council signaled that it was willing to repeal the original ordinance at the urging of local residents and business owners who strongly opposed a proposed doggie hotel and kennel on Seventh Street.
Crowding into the Council chambers, the neighbors expressed fears during the April 24 meeting that a dog hotel and kennel would disrupt their lives with loud, continuous barking. They also said they were worried about foul odors and the possibility of dogs defecating on their lawns.
“We want to be heard because we are not against bringing new businesses to the neighborhood, and we’re not against dogs,” Colette Bellefleur, a spokeswoman for the neighbors told Council. “We know that we are adjacent to a very alive and useful business community, and we welcome new businesses that will vitalize and beautify our neighborhood, not stink it up. I apologize for my words, but we want to get the message across.”
City Council unanimously introduces the proposed ordinance to prohibit mercantile licenses for dog kennels.The anti-dog kennel neighbors didn’t show up for Thursday night’s meeting for the introduction of the new ordinance.
Councilman Keith Hartzell said the neighbors “really appreciate” Council’s efforts to ban dog kennels in town.
“They just wanted to say a big thank you,” said Hartzell, who has been sympathetic toward the neighbors.
The controversy began in March when a developer had proposed opening a doggie hotel and daycare center in a two-story commercial building at 204 Seventh Street in downtown Ocean City. However, he fell one vote short of gaining approval for the project during a zoning board meeting on March 20.
The doggie hotel developer, Jake Gallagher, put the building up for sale for $879,900 after he failed to win zoning approval. But he told OCNJDaily.com in April that he may appeal the zoning board’s vote to try to resurrect his plans for the doggie hotel and daycare center.
Gallagher also said that he is considering other possible options for the building, including turning it into a private pickleball club or converting it into a mental health center for recovering alcohol and drug abusers.
“All options are on the table,” Gallagher said in an interview with OCNJDaily.com.
Gallagher's comments ignited fears among the Seventh Street neighbors that the dog kennel could be revived, prompting them to ask City Council for help to block the project and others like it.
A public hearing and final vote on the proposed ordinance to ban dog kennels are scheduled for the May 22 Council meeting.
This aerial photo shows the proposed dog hotel site, the gray-colored building in the center, on Seventh Street in Ocean City's downtown business district. (Photo courtesy of Goldcoast Sotheby's International Realty)
