The Animal Protective Foundation had hoped for a speedy approval on plans to expand its Glenville facility, but some unexpected hurdles must first be cleared.
The Glenville Town Board will hold a public hearing at its Wednesday, July 18, meeting on the proposed zoning change from Research, Development and Technology (RDT) to General Business (GB) for the APF property. The town last rezoned the property in 2001.
The APF is planning an approximately 2,200-square-foot spay and neuter clinic building to be attached to the current facility, at a cost of $700,000. Improvements to the existing 9,000-square-foot structure would also be made under the project, as well as altering the parking lot to allow for more spaces.
Rosalie Ault, executive director of the APF, said the organization started working in-house with other groups to spay and neuter animals in 2006, but demand has exceeded the current facility’s capabilities. Ault said the APF has been in operation for more than 80 years.
“We will be able to amp up the volume and try to get more animals spayed and neutered and as a result have less animals homeless and on the streets,” Ault said. “Spay and neuter is part of our vision and mission to help end the overpopulation problem.”
Ault said the organization started raising funds for the new facility about a year ago and is “just about halfway” to securing the total needed. She hopes the funds can be raised by the fall to start moving forward “more aggressively.”
The organization spays and neuters around 3,000 cats annually, and it’s hoping to double the amount of animals receiving treatment after the expansion.
Though there are more stray cats than dogs, she said, requests to spay and neuter dogs have increased in number, but the APF can’t answer the call.
“I think people are waiting for this,” Ault said. “We have had lots of requests for us to spay and neuter dogs and we just can’t do that now in our current facility, so this will help us fulfill that need for pet owners.”
During the summer, she said the APF sees “litter after litter of kittens” coming through the doors, but there are not enough homes to house the pets. Spaying and neutering animals allows the APF to tackle the root of the overpopulation dilemma.
The nonprofit animal shelter, located at 53 Maple Ave., first pursued a use variance to help expedite the project. Getting a use variance typically takes around two months, but a zoning change is a more lengthy process.
“We can’t wait another six months to go through that step,” Luigi Palleschi, an engineer representing the APF, said during the June 11 Planning Commission meeting.
The APF was planning to seek a zoning change after it received the use variance, so construction wouldn’t be delayed.
Margaret Huff, attorney for the commission, said one standard needed for granting a use variance is the applicant can’t realize a financial return on the property without it. Huff said the APF is already gaining revenue from the current spay and neuter clinic.
Palleschi argued the town created a hardship on the APF by rezoning the property, leading to the use variance petition.
“We are not creating the self hardship, the town created it by rezoning it,” he said. “They need to move this process so they can modernize their facilities.”
Commission members continued to say the APF was unlikely to receive a use variance from the town Zoning Board of Appeals and urged the group to start petitioning for a zoning change.
In APF’s written argument, it said if a use variance is not awarded, it would need to sell the facility and relocate to construct a new one, at a cost “conservatively” estimated to total $1 million. The current facility was built in 1993 for $1.3 million.
Commission member Thomas Bodden said that claim is outlandish.
“They’d rather move than wait two months? … That’s ridiculous,” Bodden said.
Commission members expressed support for the zoning change, which would also allow the approval process for any future expansions or projects to proceed more smoothly.
