About thirty-five people turned out for a Cranberry Township conditional use hearing regarding a kennel and dog grooming business in the old Cranberry High School in Seneca.
The business, Bark & Bath Pet Spa and Boarding, would provide “a safe, comfortable boarding option for dogs and pets,” said business owner David Waters at the hearing.
He said the temperature-controlled space would offer eight kennels, a cat room, a small retail operation selling collars, leashes and toys, and a grooming service.
Waters and building owner Andrew Weckerly clarified the business would be in the back of the ground level of the old high school, in the former cafeteria space.
As such, “it’s totally separated from the food pantry,” Weckerly said, and “it’s a good area segregated from the general populace.”
He added that plans are in place to landscape the area to make it nicer.
Waters noted that the kennel space, which was previously occupied by a boarding and grooming organization, would be soundproof, as it is surrounded by concrete.
Several meeting attendees spoke in favor of the business, and there were no complaints or concerns against the kennel brought up at the hearing.
Some observed the need in the area for the business, as they had struggled to find places to board their pets, and others noted the benefits of bringing businesses into the building and the area to revitalize it.
Weckerly said as the building owner who took over ownership around August of last year, he wanted to remodel, develop and fill the former high school with businesses “so we can have an asset to the area,” he said.
“We need far more small businesses than corporations around,” added Amanda Patterson of Sandy Lake, who owns a small business herself and noted small businesses have struggled since COVID and “deserve all the help they can get.”
Others noted the Venango County Humane Society, just down the street from the old high school, already has a conditional use permit to operate a dog kennel in the area.
A conditional use hearing is standard procedure for a non-conforming use request in a zoning district, and supervisors will vote on whether to grant the conditional use permit for the kennel to operate in the C-1 commercial zoning district at their regular 10:30 a.m. meeting on April 14.
