Bartholomew County Board of Zoning Appeals members this week cleared the way for a home-based pet grooming and dog spa business in Flatrock Township.
The applicant, Shelby Ping, asked for, and was unanimously granted, a conditional use to allow for her business — Shelbs’ Dog Spa — to operate at 5660 E. County Road 800N in the Agriculture: Preferred (AP) district.
The 5.82 acre site has an existing 1,716 square foot single-family home with an attached garage, a pole barn and small accessory storage shed. Included in the request was to install signs exceeding what the zoning ordinance permits for an agricultural property.
That’s because Shelby’s husband, David, also runs a different, permitted home-based business on the property in Ping’s Precision Auto Glass that has a free-standing sign of its own. The zoning ordinance permits just one, unless getting conditional use approval.
Pet grooming services will be provided in a new 520 square foot-building on the property, which is located in a rural area with large-acre agricultural uses to the north, south and east.
Planning staff had put forward a preliminary recommendation on the matter of approval, according to city documents.
Ping said she is planning to have one employee in the first year of operation, with up to three by the third year. Shelbs’ Dog Spa will also be appointment only, she told board members.
A new driveway to the building is planned that would be used to access a future single-family dwelling as well if and when the petitioner wants to plat off a portion of the site for a new home, according to the staff report.
