Calaveras planning panel upholds permit for 5-dog boarding facility amid neighbors' noise, road concerns

The Calaveras County Planning Commission on an appeal hearing upheld an administrative use permit for a small dog-boarding operation at 1298 Apple Blossom Drive in Murphys, denying an appeal that argued the use would create a noise nuisance and pose safety and maintenance costs on a private road easement.

The permit allows an existing 20-by-25-foot kennel converted to a five-dog run boarding facility on a 40.83-acre parcel zoned A-1 (General Agriculture). Planning staff told the commission that the AUP (AUP2024-082) includes conditions that cap daily vehicle trips at the level of a single-family residence (7.5 average daily trips), require an on-site full-time caretaker, restrict nighttime outdoor access, and require drainage from runs into an approved septic system; staff recommended denying the appeal and upholding the permit.

Planning staff said the parcel has split General Plan designations of Working Lands and Rural Transition and that the A-1 zone permits animal boarding with an approved AUP. Brett Sampson of the planning department said staff routed the application to county departments and notified property owners within 300 feet; staff received…