By GAYLA CAWLEY
SAUGUS — There’s some paws for concern after the owners of Red Dog Pet Resort & Spa had their plans temporarily halted for a proposed outdoor area on the roof where their canine guests could relieve themselves.
The Red Dog owners won approval from the Board of Selectmen earlier this year to operate a two-story shop just off Route 1 in Saugus. The resort would feature a swimming pool, three indoor play spaces and two outdoor spaces. It’s big enough to house 150 dogs and 25 cats. The resort would also feature daycare and overnight boarding services, along with grooming services and other spa services.
The owners operate five other locations, one in Boston and four in the Cincinnati area.
Eric Schneider, president of the operation, said plans were to open the resort in the spring in Saugus, but not getting immediate approval from the selectmen for the roof area would delay construction and opening by three months.
He went before the board on Wednesday for modification of the special permit the business received over the summer. He said approval of the roofing area for bathroom use would be the last piece needed to get their building permit.
Schneider proposed building eight-foot block walls on the roof that would look exactly like the existing building, with brick on the front and painted red block on the side. There would be no roof on the walls. He said dogs can jump over six-foot walls, but not eight. Ten to 15 dogs would be brought outside to relieve themselves at a time, and wouldn’t be caged but would have individual chain link fence runs.
He said the structure would be for dogs that are guests on the second floor. First-floor dogs would have their own area to go outside. The dogs would be outside for three to five minutes and at staggered times, so when the first dog is going in, the last dog in the group would be brought out. They get four potty breaks a day and their feces would be picked up afterwards and sprayed into the drain, which goes into the regular sewer system, Schneider said. Foaming and spraying chemicals kills the smell, he added.
“The idea of this is to mirror their home life while they’re at their resort,” said Alyssa Regalia, executive director. “By taking them outside into an enclosure, they can relieve themselves and go back inside to eat, sleep and play.”
The selectmen raised concerns over noise from barking and fear that the dogs could jump over the wall off the roof.
Town Manager Scott Crabtree said his concern was that stormwater and rain would go onto the roof in areas that collect the elimination from animals. From a plumbing standpoint, he said the town can’t have stormwater going into the sewage system. He said the owners would need to have a plan approved by the Department of Public Works before the proposal could go forward.
Debra Panetta, board chairwoman, said she was not comfortable voting to approve the permit modification.
“The idea of putting dogs on the roof is frightening to me,” she said. “Some of these dogs have springs. They jump. That, along with the noise concerns me.”
To receive the modification, Panetta said there had to be at least four votes in favor from the five-member board. When Scott Brazis, vice-chair, also indicated that he might not vote in favor, Mark Mitchell, another board member, said that he didn’t think it was right that someone has a great idea for a business and now the selectmen would be potentially altering what they would be doing.
“This is a great opportunity for our town to have another great facility here for dogs,” Mitchell said. “It’s almost like we’re not advocating for these businesses.
If the board voted the roof area modification down, it could not be brought before them for another two years. Instead, Schneider was given an opportunity to withdraw his application, which he did. He offered the selectmen an opportunity to visit the Boston site of the business to see how a similar roof bathroom area would work, which they accepted, after approving his withdrawn application. The owners now have to reapply for the roof structure and seek approval again from the board at a later date.
If the roof bathroom area is not approved, Schneider and Regalia wouldn’t say for certain that they would be leaving town and looking for a new location. But they said it would be “disheartening.”
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.