Minto council members indicated they would be willing to consider an exception to the town’s kennel bylaw for a rural property near Harriston.
In a letter received by council at the Nov. 15 meeting, Earl Savage notes he and his wife Carolyn are interested in a property on the Blind Line.
“We would like to have a kennel licence for this property but understand that it does not meet the requirements set out in the bylaw based on the size of the property,” the letter states. Existing regulations require a minimum of 10 acres to operate a kennel and the property in question is only seven acres.
The Savages currently breed miniature and toy poodles at their Denali Poodles operation near Arthur.
“We would like to move to the Minto area and continue our business,” Savage told council, noting they have been in the business for over 20 years and their operation is registered with the Canadian Kennel Club.
He asked council to initiate an amendment process to alter the bylaw or to allow them an exception to the minimum property requirement.
Chief building official Terry Kuipers pointed out the bylaw, created in 2005, does not contain an provisions to apply for an exception because at the time, the town was dealing with a proposal for a large (120 breeding dogs) kennel.
“Council was afraid if we had a window in there to apply for an exemption that we’d have more and more of that type of business,” Kuipers explained.
Savage said his family’s operation would involve up to 22 dogs at a given time.
“We don’t want a kennel situation, I don’t want a building on the property and they’re all in cages. Most of these dogs all live in the house. We do have a couple that are in a kennel situation but most of these dogs live in the house.”
CAO Bill White explained the Savage’s have not finalized a deal to purchase the property and any proposed bylaw changes would be brought back to council if the sale is completed.
Kuipers said staff were looking for direction on whether a proposed exemption provision should be “wide open” or limited to certain aspects of the bylaw.
“I think we would prefer this be an exemption for this site only and probably for this operation only,” suggested White.
Mayor George Bridge noted any similar applications in the future could be dealt with on a case by case basis.
Council directed staff to prepare a site-specific exemption for the Savage’s operation to be brought forward for consideration upon completion of the sale of the property.
