Pet care facility proposed

Inn The Doghouse to offer kennel, ‘spa,’ web surveillance services

Area pet parents soon may have a new place to take their pooches for care.

Lakewood-based Inn The Doghouse is pursuing a conditionaluse permit to operate a pet day care, grooming facility and overnight kennel in a vacant space zoned for light manufacturing use in Mentor. The property, at 7420 Tyler Blvd., is about 500 feet east of the Route 306 intersection.

The request will be among the public hearings on the city’s Planning Commission agenda at the May 3 meeting, starting at 7 p.m. at Mentor Municipal Center, 8500 Civic Center Blvd.

Business owner Whitney Callahan seeks to use the 7,200-squarefoot building and two additional lots.

Callahan has run Inn The Doghouse in Lakewood for 14 years.

“Mentor is a community that is similar to ours,” she said. “It’s growing, with similar demographics and a large concentration of loved family pets.”

The Lakewood facility offers “luxury pet spa services” and “Doggy Cam,” allowing owners to keep an eye on their animals.

“We don’t even use the word kennel here,” Callahan said.

“The dogs come for a trial day and play all day in day care, and are only in their enclosures when not playing. We also offer cat suites and a pet spa. We do not call it grooming.”

She hopes to open in Mentor by the end of summer.

The interior floor plan indicates a lobby with waiting and reception areas. The day care/kennel side includes 17 walled suites and 20 traditional fenced kennels. On the pet grooming side, there are four grooming tables, two wash stations and 20 traditional fenced kennels.

The central and rear portion of the building is an interior court for open exercise. Animals are protected by multiple gates and fencing. This protection continues throughout the facility and behind the building, where there are three exterior

exercise courts contained by an 8-foot wood fence.

Along with webcams, there are plans to install alarm systems with sensors and smoke detectors.

The business will employ six full-time employees initially and, within two years, potentially 15 workers on staggered shifts.

The number of employees will necessitate an increase in parking, according to a city administration staff report to the commission. The site plan shows 21 parking spaces. A minimum of 24 spaces are required for a pet day care or kennel/boarding use, per city code.

“With vehicles entering and exiting the site consistently throughout the day, adequate parking will be essential,” the staff report says.

The facility will operate from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, and weekends either 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. or 7 p.m. The grooming side

would be open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Other public hearings on the May 3 agenda are:

• Conditional-use permit to allow an automobile repair shop at 7471 Tyler Blvd., Unit G, in the M-1 Light Manufacturing District by S&S Auto Care Inc., 7471 Tyler Boulevard LLC and USA Management and Development

• Conditional-use permit to allow an automobile (motorcycle) repair shop at 8762 East Ave. in the M-1 Light Manufacturing District by Gypsy Iron Cycles LLC and Hieronymus Management Co.

• Conditional-use permit to allow vehicle sales and servicing at 7000 Fracci Court in the B-2 General Business District by Jim Brown Inc. and Osborne Richard M. Trustee

• Rezoning of 1.026 acres from RVG Village Green District to R-4 Single-family Residential at 9168 Jackson St. by Jackson Creekside LLC and Marie Audrey Davis.