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Home My WebLink AboutADVANCED ANIMAL CARE OF COLORADO - MOD. OF STAND. - MOD110001 - CORRESPONDENCE - MODIFICATION REQUESTtolerated. Additionally, noise from the outside yards will never be more than 65 decibels so this will not be a concern We look forward to working with you during this process and will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Sincerely, Cathy Mathis, APA Project Manager, The Birdsall Group 1530 Riverside Drive Modification of Standards 5-17-11 j Modification to Section 3.8.22(A) Code Language: Section 3.8.22 Dog Day -Care Facility Regulations of the Land Use Code states the following: "(A) All services provided by a dog day-care facility shall be conducted within a completely enclosed, soundproof building." Requested Modification: We request that the dog day-care facility be allowed to have outdoor supervised dog yards. Justification We fell that the plan as submitted will promote the general purpose of the standard for which the modification is requested equally well or better than would a plan which complies with the standard for which a modification is requested, and will continue to advance the purposes of the Land Use Code as contained in Section 1.2.2 for the following reasons: The client has a proven track record when it comes to developing a similar hospital on South College Avenue. The VCA clinic is located adjacent to Fairway Estates, a historically sensitive neighborhood who were adamantly opposed to the hospital. The owners worked closely with the neighborhood and the City to assure that potential issues with the outdoor yard, such as noise and lighting were addressed. The VCA has continued to be a good neighbor and there are no problems. In fact, one of the neighbors wrote a letter of support for Dr Heather Steyn and the hospital. (see attached) Dr Steyn was in charge of overseeing the VCA hospital, building it to the guidelines of the city and maintaining itself as a good neighbor until beginning this project. • The location of the site is in an Industrial district and is not located near or adjacent to any residential neighborhoods. Further, there is a railroad north of the site and it has been noted that noise the train whistle makes would far exceed any potential barking dog. • The proposed alternative plan seeks to re -use and upgrade an existing, vacant building by making significant alterations to the exterior of the building, as well as parking lot and landscape upgrades. • The proposed alternative plan ensures sensitivity to the character of existing neighborhoods by developing like uses next to like uses. We feel that the proposed plan does not detract in any way from satisfying this purpose. • The difference between the proposed alternative plan and a plan that meets the code is that any full -service veterinary hospital facility could not exist and function without the outdoor yards. We feel that the difference is inconsequential and that, by proper management, monitoring and staffing, the whole issue of a barking dog probehn will be non-existent. Based on the vision for the practice and the ethical beliefs of the owner of the veterinary hospital, a barking dog is a sign of a stressed animal that reflects poorly on the care of that pet. AAC of CO would perceive a barking problem as neglect of an animal and it will not 1530 Riverside Drive Modification of Standards 5-17-11 area for them to eliminate in. These yards mimic the home backyard with the exception of not allowing the dogs to remain in the yards at anytime unsupervised by an employee. The following describes each outdoor area and its function and operation: Supervised Agility Park — 15 dogs per class, group play, supervised by employees, owners and trainers; These are organized classes with dogs either on leash or working individually on equipment. Play groups will be supervised by employees, trainers and possibly owners for the guidance of teaching socialization, manners, obedience and exercise. Allowing the dogs to play to hard, bark or be mis-behaved goes against the purpose of the classes and play groups so this will not be tolerated. Supervised Exercise Yard — One staff member per animal or per family of pets (if there are 2 dogs from the same family lodging together — they will be exercised together) Hospital Dog Yard - This is just a walking/eliminating area for sick patients or hospitalized pets. These dogs are walked on leash only and not allowed to play due to the nature of their stay with the hospital. These will always be walked by an employee or an owner. This allows for prevention of cross contamination of a sick pet to our healthy pet population in the other areas. Each yard will be fully fenced with a 5' high metal open -rail fence (see attached drawing). The core issue of this modification revolves around the fact the the Land Use Code mandates that all facilities associated with the above -mentioned uses be located entirely indoors. We are therefore requesting a modification of two standards to allow AACC to utilize outdoor supervised yards for this facility. These modifications are requested in accordance with the review procedures set forth in Section 2.8.2(H) of the Land Use Code as follows: Modification to Section 3.8.5(A) Code Language: Section 3.8.5 Small Animal Veterinary Clinic and Hospital Regulations of the Land Use Code states the follwing: "(A) All facilities of a small animal veterinary clinic or a small animal veterinary hospital, including all treatment rooms, cages, pens, kennels and exercise runs, shall be maintained within a completely enclosed, soundproof building." Requested Modification: We request that the veterinary and ancillary portions of the facility be allowed to have outdoor supervised dog yards. We do not have any planned exterior treatment rooms, cages, pens, kennels or exercise runs — all of our enclosed areas are true yards as described above. 1530 Riverside Drive Modification of Standardy 5-17-11 May 17, 2011 Administrative Hearing Officer c/o City of Fort Collins Current Planning Department 281 North College Ave. Fort Collins, CO 80524 Re: 1530 Riverside Avenue (Advanced Animal Care of Colorado) Please accept this request for a Modification of Standards to Section 3.8.5(A) and Section 3.8.22 (A) of the Land Use Code. Background Advanced Animal Care of Colorado intends to purchase the building previously occupied by Allnutt Funeral Home and crematorium located at 1530 Riverside Avenue. The property is located in the Industrial Zoning District. Land uses adjacent to the property are Academy Storage and railroad tracks to the north, the now vacant Sears Trostel building to the east, Riverside Avenue on the south and Best Rental to the west. The site was originally approved under the previous code that allowed all non-residential uses, therefore, the proposed use is currently being approved through the minor amendment process. Improvements will include exterior and interior renovations to the existing building, re -striping and "cleaning -up" the existing parking lot and landscape areas, and the addition of three supervised fenced outdoor yards. The yard to the outside from the pool is for safety only and not going to be used for exercise, this is so the dogs in the pool can't nun away when the doors are open for fresh air. Advanced Animal Care of Colorado will be a full service veterinary hospital facility staffed by multiple veterinarians for the use of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of animal diseases limited to dogs, cats, pocket pets and avian species. Overnight hospitalization and medical lodging will be offered within the veterinary hospital. AACC will also be offering ancillary services which include: Doggie Day Care, Training, Grooming and Behavioral Counseling as well as lodging of well pets for overnight care not associated with medical lodging. Animals for lodging will be housed in indoor suites. Staff members, in the attached play parks, will exercise lodging pets under complete supervision. There will be no outside kenneling or unsupervised pets outside at anytime. Additional services provided at AACC will be rehabilitation and conditioning services that include swim therapy, underwater treadmill and other physical therapy modalities. Given the latest trends in animal care, veterinarians are now providing a "full -service" /one stop shop" of services. Outdoor exercise areas are critical to the functionality of the services provided by AACC. We believe that to create a safe, low stress environment for the pets that are staying with us it is necessary to mimic the home situation as much as possible. The safe fenced exercise areas allow for staff members to exercise the dogs in a safe, interactive manner — not just have an 444 Mountain Ave. I m_ 970.53Z5W1 C.1d4w A rMiO 1O ..cn TOr_`r.... � m