Planning commission recommends special-exception permit for commercial kennel on East Midland Trail

The Rockbridge County Planning Commission on June 11 recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve a special-exception permit allowing Jake and Brenna Tomlin to develop and operate a commercial kennel on an approximately 22.93-acre parcel in the Agricultural Transitional (AT) zoning district on the southwest side of East Midland Trail.

The commission’s action matters because the permit would authorize commercial breeding on land outside the county’s residential districts and includes conditions intended to limit noise, boarding, grooming and off-site impacts. The special exception will run with the land, meaning any future owner would be bound by the permit’s conditions.

Viveka, community development staff, told commissioners that Rockbridge County’s land development regulations (section 302.116) define a kennel as “any location where raising, grooming, caring for, or boarding of dogs, cats, or other small animals for commercial purposes is carried on,” and that commercial kennels in the AT district are allowed only by special exception. The application described an…