A kennel operator seeking to open a location in the west side Columbus Crossing retail development has won initial approval on a split vote.
Barkefellers, which has three locations in Indianapolis, has proposed building a 25,000-square-foot kennel and training facility north of the west side Walmart store.
The Columbus Plan Commission considered the matter Wednesday, when it was asked to amend the preliminary Planned Unit Development plan for Columbus Crossing to add kennels to permitted uses.
Two commission members expressed concerns during Wednesday’s meeting about dogs barking and whether the facility was appropriate for the area.
Commission member Frank Jerome also argued that if the Columbus Crossing preliminary PUD plan was revised to include a kennel, the facility would impact neighboring businesses in the area due to dogs barking. Several restaurants, a few small retailers and a Goodwill retail store already operate near the proposed kennel.
“It doesn’t seem the right place for it,” fellow commission member Roger Lang said.
However, representatives from Barkefellers tried to assure commissioners that noise would not be a problem. Columbus attorney Jeff Rocker appeared at the meeting with Rick Coffey, president of Barkefellers, and Herb Coffey, franchisee of the business.
They had their share of supporters, too.
Columbus resident Chuck Doup said he thought that since the Coffeys already have three established businesses, there shouldn’t be any issues.
“If he’s got three going, he knows what he’s doing,” Doup said. “The question is whether you want it there.”
Rafael Bolivar, a commercial relationship manager and vice president with Salin Bank, said the facility would benefit the area.
“I have personally observed how clients that do business at the three existing Barkefellers locations will also combine their visits to also frequent nearby businesses such as nearby restaurants and other retail locations as part of their shopping route,” Bolivar wrote in a letter of support backing plans for Barkefellers. “This type of repeat retail traffic pattern should be of great benefit to businesses in the Merchant’s Mile area and to the City of Columbus in general.”
Lang made a motion to deny the Planned Unit Development revision, which was seconded by Jerome. The vote to deny was 5-5, resulting in another motion to approve the request.
That second motion resulted in a 6-4 vote to recommend a favorable approval to Columbus City Council. Commissioners voting no were Lang, Jerome, Dennis Baute and Rodney Finke.
The approval is contingent on the facility having air conditioning ventiliation and no pets outside after 7 p.m., said Jeff Bergman, city-county planning director.
A separate request to approve a final PUD plan to allow the new kennel was continued and will be revisited by the Columbus Plan Commission at a later date, Bergman said.
Bergman said he was concerned about the overall building design, noting that he wasn’t sure it would fit design standards for the PUD.
However, Rocker said after the meeting that his clients would work with planning department staff on the design of the building.
The request has been continued during the plan commission’s October meeting after the planning department said it wanted time to look at the appropriateness of the facility in the area.
A final determination will go before the Columbus City Council during its Dec. 4 meeting.
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Columbus City Council will consider a request during its 6 p.m. meeting Dec. 4 to amend the Columbus Crossing preliminary Planned Unit Development plan to revise permitted uses in the area to include a kennel.
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