Supervisors turn thumbs down on kennel’s permit request

Citing past issues of illegal operation, Charles City’s Board of Supervisors has denied a permit request that would allow the owner of a Rottweiler breeding kennel in the county to remain in business. In a unanimous 3-0 decision Tuesday night, supervisors turned down the request by Linda Howard, owner of Big Dog Kennel located at 5226 North Warriner Road. Supervisors pointed to Howard continuing to sell dogs after the county handed her a May 17, 2009 deadline to cease all operations.

Last Dec. 17, county planning officials and the sheriff’s office set up a sting operation whereby an undercover officer visited the kennel, posing as a potential puppy customer. Video and audio recordings of the sting proved instrumental in convicting Howard on May 4 in Charles City Circuit Court on two misdemeanor counts of operating a commercial kennel without a special use permit.

Supervisors’ decision Tuesday night followed a county Planning Commission recommendation for denial arrived at the week before during a work session.

Howard’s son, Eric Halprin, argued on behalf of his mother during Tuesday’s board meeting, claiming the Planning Commission should have considered granting the kennel a probationary period and not recommend denial.

“I think it’s unjust, unfair, and unconstitutional that it was brought forth in a work session,” Halprin told supervisors.

“If we do not get the permit, my mother will be homeless,” he said, adding that Howard’s house at the kennel site is in foreclosure. “We’ve done everything the county has asked us to do to come into compliance with the law.”

But Supervisor Gilbert Smith, who motioned for denial, implied Howard dragged her feet on the compliance matter until the county turned up the heat. When the kennel first opened, he said, he visited the site and decided to give the business a chance to succeed.

“After that, I hate to say it, everything went downhill,” he said. “Staff has done everything in its power to help her come into compliance.”

Supervisor Sherri Bowman said that while she sympathizes with Howard’s plight, the kennel owner has been afforded ample opportunity to fix the situation. Approving a permit, she said, would set a bad example and open the county to a multitude of problems down the road.

“You were told to cease operations yet you continued to operate,” she told Howard. “That’s kind of like bad behavior.”