Planning panel approves kennel and training business rezoning with conditions after neighbors raise safety and traffic concerns

The Pa uding County Planning Commission recommended approval of application 2025-05-Z, a request to rezone 12.55 acres from R-2 Suburban Residential District to AB Agricultural Business District to permit a kennel license for dog training, breeding, boarding and grooming, and to grant a variance reducing the required kennel setback to accommodate an existing detached building on the property.

Applicant Chelsea McKinney (who identified herself in the hearing) told the commission she operates a dog training and rehabilitation business at 286 Deer Run Path and that rezoning is needed to comply with Pa uding County and state Department of Agriculture requirements for a kennel license. McKinney said she is a canine aggression specialist who runs a board-and-train program and rehabilitates dogs referred by animal-control agencies; she said she has been operating since 2017 and holds liability insurance.

McKinney described the on-site facilities as a house where she lives, plus a converted detached workshop about the size of a three-car garage that she uses as an overflow kennel and grooming area. She said the kennel area is within an approximately one-acre, six-foot privacy-fenced compound with chicken wire buried along the fence line; kennels are escape-tested metal units and the building has HVAC, electricity and well water. She said client dogs are not left unattended outside for extended periods, that new dogs must be vaccinated and identified, and that she generally limits client dogs to no more than four on the property at any time and takes only a few board-and-train dogs per month.

Neighbors and others at the hearing raised concerns about the reduced setback along the southern property line, traffic and sight-line safety where Deer Run Path meets Friendship Church Road, signage for the public notice, waste management, children in the area and the possibility of business expansion by future owners. David Graham, a nearby property owner, asked what measures would prevent later expansion of use, new buildings or increased boarding. Another neighbor raised questions about stray dogs in the area and foot traffic.

Staff recommended approval with one stipulation: coordinating with other private-drive users to participate in maintenance of the Deer Run Path easement. During the hearing McKinney agreed to an additional stipulation proposed by commissioners: a prohibition on future expansion of the business and on enlargement of the existing detached building. Following an initial motion to deny that failed, the commission approved a motion to recommend approval with the existing staff stipulation and the added stipulation restricting expansion and building enlargement. The commission’s favorable recommendation will be forwarded to the Pa uding County Board of Commissioners for consideration at its April 8 meeting at 2 p.m.; the applicant was told she must appear at that hearing.

The transcript documents the conditions agreed on during the hearing and neighbor concerns; the Board of Commissioners will make the final decision and may impose or refine conditions.