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Uproar silences plan for kennel
Commissioners turn down Sheldegren Pet Resort's request to add 30 more dog runs.
By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published July 27, 2007
They are rich. They are organized. And they got what they wanted. Several residents of the swanky Signature Estates neighborhood helped persuade the Pinellas County Commission on Tuesday to defeat plans to expand a dog kennel in Safety Harbor. In a 6-1 vote, elected officials decided they would not permit Sheldegren Pet Resort's owners to build 30 additional enclosed dog runs because the racket would bother the neighbors. "It was like a reverse O.J. Simpson trial," said Mary Ann Engelmann, who owns the kennel with her husband, Jes Engelmann. "The noise concerns they talked about were unfounded." She was disappointed in the commission's decision because there is a great need for facilities like hers in Pinellas County, she said. Most of the people who spoke against the project live next door to the pet resort in the upscale Signature Estates community that comprises more than a dozen million-dollar-plus homes. "The noise levels are insane," said Donna Carollo, a Signature Estates resident. "You can't open your windows ... you can't enjoy your porch." Said her husband, Santo Carollo: "We have 5 feet between us and (the kennel). We want quality of life ... we don't want (the kennel) intruding on our life." Opponents said the cacophony ruins neighborhood barbecues and parties, and that the yipping and yapping can be heard even through closed windows. Engelmann said she plans to install soundproofing materials throughout the kennel. Signature Estates homeowner William Schumacher called the Engelmanns' expansion plans "unneighborly." The pet resort was built in the 1960s; Signature Estates was built about a decade ago. The Engelmanns bought the 1.7-acre property at 3440 Enterprise Road in 2003. The kennel averages about 35 guests a day; capacity is about 70 dogs. If the Engelmanns had been allowed to expand, that would have increased to 120 animals. Gary Borland, who boards his pet at the resort, is one of their supporters. He said people shouldn't "move next to an airport and then complain about the planes flying overhead." Likewise, he said, they "shouldn't move next to a kennel and complain about" dogs.
[Last modified July 26, 2007, 20:24:05]
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by John
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08/11/07 08:18 AM
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They bought land next to a Kennel, next to an active Rail Road, next to a very busy road, under an airport approach/flight path and they say the kennel is in the wrong location?????????? It is called Enterprise Road, not Residential Road!!!!
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by Bill
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07/27/07 08:17 PM
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Maybe Matt Geiger can ride his choppers over Signature Estates?
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by Karen
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07/27/07 10:02 AM
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They didn't know the kennel was there when they bought these million plus dollar homes? Sounds like money doesn't buy brains, but they all think they can have their way now. That's right, that's all the BOCC hears is money.
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by Dennis
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07/27/07 09:36 AM
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Absolutely ridiculous. Some idiots buy land next to an already existing kennel, builds million dollar homes there, then the residents who chose to move next to a kennel whine about the noise!! Money wins over common sense yet again.
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by jay
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07/27/07 06:24 AM
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I understand being home and wanting quiet time.but you can beleive if someones outdoor parties disturbs me I will report that also.you get several people outdoors drinking and carrying on.trying to out talk one another,its a lot louder then dogs.
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