Residents oppose dog hotel and veterinary hospital
FAIRFIELD — Impassioned speeches against a proposed veterinary hospital and dog hotel were frequent Tuesday night, as residents stood almost unilaterally opposed to a proposal for one on the Post Road.
“It’s going to be a fiasco,” Al Kelly, a Fairfield resident, said.
Kelly, who owns a doggy daycare in Fairfield, said there would be issues with noise from barking, as well as smells from waste and flies around the neighborhood as a result of that waste.
More than 20 people spoke during public comment in a Town Plan and Zoning Commission meeting where the application for Spot On Veterinary Hospital and Hotel was discussed. Of those speakers, the vast majority of them were opposed to the proposal.
In the beginning of the hearing, John Knuff, the attorney for Spot On, reiterated the message that Dr. Philip Putter wants to be a wonderful neighbor. He said the owner proposed additional changes to try and dispel the neighbors fear about the application. The primary change was completely
eliminating the southern dog play area.
“We would be happy to make modifications to the regulation amendment,” he said, noting they would also change the special permit application and had submitted a new sound study to reflect their changes.
Putter owns Spot On in Stamford, and his proposal for a new facility at 2269 Post Road in Fairfield has caused much consternation among residents, who worry the veterinary hospital and dog hotel will impact their neighborhood if approved. They have also
raised concerns about how the proposed zoning amendment would impact the town at large.
In the first public hearing on Jan. 10, the developer and his team of experts said the business would have a limited impact on nearby residents. An acoustic engineer hired by Putter told the commission that the sounds of dogs barking would not be frequent and would be quieter than much of the ambient traffic noise from the Post Road.
In this hearing, residents said they did not agree.
Kristen Stasko, an abutting neighbor, said said she is a breast cancer survivor in remission, and her medication still causes her headaches, fatigue and anxiety.
“The thought of having to face these symptoms with the addition of dogs barking is causing me undue and unimaginable stress and worry,” she said. “Dr. Putter spoke to the quality of life for his clients — the dogs — but, quite frankly, I’m more concerned with my quality of life.”
Stasko said comparing the sound of dogs barking to ambient noise is absurd. “The sounds of the train, of cars driving by, the sounds of life, are in no way comparable to dogs barking,” she said. “That is why there is no dogs barking option on a soothing sound machine, but there is a train one. I’m not saying Dr. Putter should not expand his business. My husband and I are small business owners as well, and I completely understand that. He just should do it somewhere else.”
Cheryl Paul, a Villa Avenue resident, said she owned a doggy daycare in Fairfield, and needed to go through the application process twice to be approved. She said commissioners told her such a business would never be allowed to abut a residential area, which the Spot On application would.
“It took me 10 years to find the right building and I followed all the zoning rules,” she said. “If you approve this doggy daycare… and allow all of the number of requested dogs, for all the money that I paid and all that I went through, I’d like my money back.”
Nina Fattahi, an Overhill Road resident, said Spot On would shatter the peace and quiet of her home, noting she lived right next to the proposed facility.
“We’re not here because we don’t like dogs. We’re not here because we’re anti-business,” she said. “We’re here because we oppose the upending of zoning regulations that have served our community for 100 years.”
Seth Ginsberg, of Fernwood Road, said he has a dog named Little Dude who is a patient of Putter, and thinks the business would be a benefit to Fairfield and its neighbors.
“It’s not some crazy, insane noise emporium,” he said. “It’s like Epcot. These would be the most upstanding and most responsible people you could have in that space.”
Ginsberg said he understands the not-in-mybackyard mindset, but Spot On is a facility that Fairfield desperately needs.
Ken Astarita, a resident of Southport Woods Drive and a member of the Representative Town Meeting, said common sense tells him the location is the wrong spot for the business.
“Dogs bark,” he said. “That’s what they do.”