The Boulder County Planning Commission on July 16 recommended that the Board of County Commissioners conditionally approve SU-24-0003, an application to convert an existing agricultural building into a dog boarding kennel at 12350 Niwot Road in northeast Boulder County.

Planning staff presented the application and recommended approval subject to 19 conditions based on the applicant’s supplemental narrative. Sam Walker, the county planner who reviewed the file, told commissioners the proposal seeks a special use permit to allow up to 20 dogs to be boarded on a legal 10-acre agricultural lot. Walker said the proposal includes a sound-mitigation plan, limits outdoor dogs to no more than five at a time, and would keep most of the parcel in agricultural use. “We found that the proposed use would be compatible with the surrounding area specifically with that mitigation plan,” Walker said.

The applicant team—property owners Garrett Hawes and Jessica Kittle and their agents Aaron McLean and Brian Horan—said the operation is intended to be a small, farm-style boarding facility rather than a commercial daycare. Garrett Hawes said the business aims to be “a home away from home for pups” and emphasized the family’s experience with fostering and rehoming dogs. Agent Aaron McLean and traffic engineer Brian Horan said the operation would be by appointment, require overnight stays (reducing daily vehicle trips), and that the transportation analysis showed minimal traffic impacts to the local road network.

Public testimony was mixed. Neighbors who live along Niwot Road and nearby conservation easements called out concerns about noise, odor, wildlife disturbance and the narrow local bridge and roadway. Resident Richard Landata warned of increased safety risks on the “one-lane” bridge and narrower sections of Niwot Road, and Joy Landera, whose property is under a conservation easement across the road, said persistent barking could disturb nesting raptors and other wildlife. Other neighbors testified in favor, describing the applicants as attentive property owners who have made improvements and who would adhere to the county’s mitigation measures.

Two technical referral issues drew particular attention during the hearing. First, the county’s building-permit reviewers said an “approved water source” must be provided for the building and use; the referral response noted a cistern as originally proposed would not be approved and suggested a public water tap or an approved well. The applicants said the commercial tap option could be costly (they cited estimates in the roughly $80,000–$100,000 range), and asked the commission to request the building official consider lower-cost alternatives. Staff noted the building-permit requirement is subject to the chief building official’s review and potential appeal to the Board of Review.

Second, commissioners and staff discussed the land-use distance standard that ordinarily requires kennels with more than 12 dogs to be at least 300 feet from property lines. Walker said the parcel could not meet the literal 300-foot standard but staff found the distance to existing development on surrounding parcels, plus the mitigation plan, constituted an acceptable mitigating circumstance. Staff also flagged that stormwater review may be required if more than an acre of disturbance occurs and that the applicants will need to demonstrate legal access and comply with multimodal access standards at building permit.

Commissioners amended staff conditions to clarify that the 20-dog cap applies to boarded dogs (not to the applicants’ personal pets) and to explicitly limit outdoor dogs to five boarded dogs at any one time. The commission voted unanimously to recommend conditional approval to the Board of County Commissioners, and included a direction to staff and the building official to evaluate cost-effective ways to meet the “approved water source” requirement short of an expensive commercial tap.

The recommendation now goes to the Board of County Commissioners for final action; staff will prepare the formal record and conditions for that hearing. The project will also require subsequent building and utility permits before the kennel can open.