Board sends Dog Home Away From Home special-exception request to business meeting after split public response

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 10 voted to forward a special-exception application for Dog Home Away From Home Kennel in the Catoctin District to the Oct. 21 business meeting for action.

The move followed a staff presentation recommending approval with conditions, a 10-minute applicant presentation, and lengthy public comment from neighbors both supporting and opposing the kennel. The board’s motion to forward the case (Lehi 2024-0014) passed by a voice vote recorded as 8-0-1 with one member off the dais.

Staff presentation: Dorothy Baker, a planner with the Department of Planning and Zoning, told the board the parcel is 4.85 acres in the rural policy area and that staff finds the kennel generally consistent with the Rural North place type in the 2019 General Plan if conditions addressing noise, fencing, hours and animal counts are applied. Baker said the planning commission recommended approval with two modifications: requiring a 6-foot privacy fence (replacing an existing roughly 3.5-foot fence) and limiting the number of dogs in the outdoor run during the day to four.

Applicant…