They find dogs forever homes — and want their own. Fort Mill neighbors aren’t sold.
What could be an ideal setting for the Humane Society of York County isn’t sitting well with some Fort Mill neighbors. On Thursday, either side could hear the answer it wants.
The York County board of zoning appeals deferred a July decision on a special exception needed for the Humane Society to set up a new kennel on Holbrook Road. The sticking point then was noise. Neighbors worried barking dogs would be a problem, which led the board to ask for a sound study.
Those noise study results are in, ahead of a planned board decision Thursday night.
New kennel plan
During more than two hours of back-and-forth on the kennel decision July 13, Humane Society board President Mary Beth Knapp described what the new site could mean for her organization.
“It’s a dream come true,” Knapp said. “It truly is a promised land for us.”
The Humane Society is an independent, nonprofit, no-kill rescue now based in Regent Park. There are five board members and 14 on staff, with about 10 volunteers helping at the current kennels daily. The organization started in 1976 and has had a facility for 24 years. The group is renting its current facility in Regent Park, where it’s been for 12 years.
“We have done with what we have been given, and we make it work,” Knapp said. “Our hopes are so much bigger than what we have today.”
The group runs adoptions, a pet food pantry, spay and neuter subsidies, shots and vaccines. It hasn’t grown space in 12 years but the communities around it, and need overall, have grown considerably. The more than 11-acre vacant unaddressed site just west of Hamlin Road would allow for a commercial kennel with a 4,000-square-foot intake building, 8,000-square-foot indoor kennel and 5,000-square-foot outdoor kennel.
The site would be open 1-4 p.m. weekdays except Friday, when it would stay open two hours longer. Staff would be at the site starting at 8 a.m. weekdays. The kennel would be required to close at least one day a week.
Development would depend on fundraising, but it could be phased in the 2024 to 2027 window, Knapp said at the July meeting.
Knapp said a study was done at the existing kennel on noise, as a safety measure for workers or volunteers. It was done in the loudest areas inside rooms for dogs.
“The result was basically if you’re not sitting in that room for eight straight hours, there is no impact,” Knapp said.
As for noise that might impact neighboring properties, Knapp said it would be kept to a minimum.
“Dogs bark,” Knapp said. “Dogs barking, we keep to a minimum as we offer them exercise, companionship, play and some training.”
Resident noise concern
About a dozen neighboring property owners spoke about concerns with the plan. Massey resident Robert Leake said at the July meeting his property is the closest in the neighborhood to the Humane Society property. Leake said he has a family of animal lovers but also concerns about noise levels, trees as an insufficient sound barrier, the reduction of property values and conflict between the kennel proposal and county comprehensive plan.
It isn’t just kennel dogs barking that concerns Leake.
“One dog barking encourages other dogs to bark,” Leake said. “So if there’s consistent barking coming from the kennel, this will create barking coming from dogs in our neighborhood.”
Neighboring property owner Patricia Moody is on a side of the fence she wouldn’t have anticipated.
“I’m dismayed to be at odds with the Humane Society on this,” Moody said at the July hearing. “No one disputes their mission or the wonderful work they’re doing. These folks obviously are wonderful. I see them all the time.”
Moody said her family’s last six dogs were adopted through the Humane Society or a rescue group like it. While Moody doesn’t doubt the group’s intent, there are questions.
“What recourse would we have if some of these things don’t happen the way they say they will?” Moody said.
Then there’s the concern several residents brought up about commercial development. The site is about a quarter mile from Fort Mill Parkway, where commercial growth is hot in recent years with new restaurants, grocery store and other plans popping up frequently.
Moody believes an exception for the kennel might invite more commercial interest to the largely residential space along Holbrook.
“It’s going to be easier for other exceptions, other approvals to come on down the line,” Moody said.
Allowed land use
The property eyed by the Humane Society belongs to a Chester resident who Knapp said is a supporter and will work with the Humane Society to make the new kennel project feasible. The property is zoned rural development which is designed to preserve rural or agricultural areas and discourage rapid growth.
Some of the allowed land uses in the zoning designation include homes, manufactured homes, cluster subdivisions, farms, churches, schools and animal hospitals. The zoning district also allows animal and pet services under a retail listing, without outdoor kennels.
With an outdoor kennel, the property would need a special exception like the one being considered again Thursday.
The Humane Society has a history of working in Fort Mill. In addition to the Regent Park site and plans for Holbrook Road, the group has its annual Christmas store set up through October in the former Kimbrell’s Furniture building at 232 Main St. downtown.
