Planning commission recommends DogStop use permit, removes acoustical-study requirement for this site

The Vacaville Planning Commission voted 7-0 on Oct. 25 to recommend City Council adoption of a zoning text amendment and a conditional use permit (CUP) that would allow commercial pet boarding in a General Commercial (CG) zone and permit a DogStop facility at 848 Alamo Drive.

Assistant Planner Brennan Glashinski introduced the item, saying, “The request before you is to amend Title 14 of the City of Vacaville’s municipal code to allow animal shelter and boarding in the general commercial zoning district with a use permit, as well as to approve a conditional use permit to establish a DogStop within an existing approximately 8,000 square foot tenant space located at 848 Alamo Drive.”

The proposal would add animal shelter and boarding as an allowable use in the CG district subject to either a minor use permit or a conditional use permit when the site abuts residential uses. The applicant, franchise operator Mark Henriksen, described the concept as a “premium pet care facility” with primarily indoor operations, 72–77 boarding spaces, and a roughly 1,350-square-foot (13-50 square feet? staff noted 13 50) outdoor relief area. Henriksen urged the commission to remove the CUP condition requiring an acoustical analysis, calling it “unnecessary, costly, and overburdensome” and saying the franchise’s operational protocols and facility construction would mitigate noise and odor.

Staff noted differences between the applicant and staff on two items in the draft ordinance: requiring trash enclosures and requiring an acoustical analysis. Staff recommended keeping a condition that would require an acoustical study where a proposed use abuts sensitive uses so the city can confirm compliance with its noise standards and document any required mitigation. Director of Community Development Albert Morris told commissioners that the city’s noise standards and the municipal code allow the director to require a noise analysis when a proposed use could generate noise exceeding standards, particularly adjacent to sensitive uses.

Commission debate focused on balancing small-business costs against protecting nearby residents. Commissioners who represent small-business interests and those who noted substantial ambient traffic noise in the plaza argued that the acoustical study would impose an undue financial burden (applicant cited local costs in the tens of thousands of dollars). Commissioner Rob Dingman moved to remove the acoustical-analysis condition for this specific CUP; the motion was seconded by Vice Chair Wilkerson. After clarifying that the change would apply only to this application and not remove the requirement citywide in the draft ordinance, the commission voted unanimously to recommend approval while striking the CUP condition (labeled 6.b in staff materials) for this application.

Commissioners and staff also discussed operational conditions included in the CUP draft: hours of outdoor use limited to daytime business hours, requirements for trash enclosures, sanitation and ventilation standards, and monitoring provisions. Henriksen told the commission the facility would be staffed roughly 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and rely on 24/7 remote video monitoring outside those hours. Staff performed a CEQA check and determined the project is categorically exempt under CEQA classes 15301 and 15303 (existing facilities and small structures).

The commission’s action is a recommendation to the City Council. Staff will forward the record, including the commission’s recommended removal of the acoustical-analysis condition for this CUP, to council for its decision on the zoning text amendment and the CUP.

The commission and the applicant repeatedly emphasized that the CUP, as modified by the commission, imposes operational conditions intended to address community concerns about noise, odor and trash. The commission’s vote does not itself approve construction or operations; those activities are subject to subsequent council action and permit issuance if council approves the ordinance and CUP.

A separate, smaller item during the meeting (public comment earlier in the agenda) included residents urging more native landscaping and pollinator-friendly species in city projects, a point commissioners and staff acknowledged as part of ongoing landscape policy discussions.