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 presentation and commitments: Megan Alfaro, who identified herself as an owner of Dog Home Away From Home Kennel, described the business as family-run and said demand for affordable pet care in Loudoun is high. "We are proud to offer an affordable pet care service," Alfaro said. She said the operation currently has a three-and-a-half-foot fence that they would raise to six feet, that dogs are supervised at all times, that they use sound-dampening in kennels and daily sanitization protocols, and that they limit on-site staff during operating hours. She told the board the kennel has nine security cameras, locked gates and that she and her husband would not expand the operation beyond the terms of the special exception.

Public comment split: Neighbors who oppose the special exception described years of operation without prior county approval and said the business has already produced negative impacts. Nancy Meisner told the board the kennel has operated "in direct violation of the zoning ordinance" and that the continuation of the operation raises doubts about future compliance with conditions. Other opponents said a 4.85-acre parcel and surrounding 5-acre lots make a 15-dog capacity and 24/7 boarding incompatible with the rural neighborhood and voiced concerns about noise, traffic and precedent.

Supporters — including residents who said they use the business — countered that dogs are supervised, the property is well kept and that the facility has not caused measurable declines in nearby home sales. One neighbor who said she boards dogs at the kennel told the board she has "never heard barking all day long" while inside her home.

Key details and proposed conditions: Staff’s recommended conditions, as described in the hearing, included a maximum of 15 dogs (including personal pets), drop-off between 8 and 10 a.m. and pick-up between 4 and 6 p.m., a minimum of two staff on site during operating hours, daily cleaning and waste-handling protocols, required landscaping buffers and the 6-foot privacy fence around the outdoor run area. The planning commission had further limited daytime outdoor density to four dogs in the run area. Staff estimated the nearest residences are several hundred feet from the outdoor pen (examples in the staff map: about 362 feet to one house, about 526 feet to another).

Board action and next steps: Supervisor Kirschner moved to forward Lehi 2024-0014 (Dog Home Away From Home special exception) to the board’s Oct. 21 business meeting for action; Supervisor Umstead seconded. The motion passed by voice vote recorded in the meeting as 8-0-1 with one member off the dais. The applicant and opponents may present additional materials at the business meeting; staff will prepare final recommended conditions for the board’s deliberate action.

Why this matters: The case highlights a recurring county issue — how to balance rural property rights, home-based businesses and enforcement of zoning rules when resident-run operations scale up. Neighbors said prior operation without permits caused distrust; the applicant said she is seeking to come into compliance and is willing to accept specific mitigation.

The board did not make a final decision on the special exception at the public hearing; the matter will return to the full board at the Oct. 21 business meeting for a final vote.