Noise ordinance threatens vet clinic
Owner mulls options as Niskayuna weighs changing its policy
Proposed changes to Niskayuna’s dog barking law have pitted residents pestered by canine noise at a neighboring animal hospital against the owner who protests changes that could shut down the 60-year-old business.
Aqueduct Animal Hospital has been a fixture on Balltown Road since 1957. Veterinarian Dr. Matthew Pike, the owner since 2010, estimates the hospital has served 15,000 families — with up to 20,000 animals — in the last few years alone. The white clapboard building with a couple smaller shelters and a fenced-in backyard boards 17 dogs and 15 in day care on an average day, Pike said.
Noney and Rob Grier, whose backyard at 9 Schwaber Drive abuts the
animal hospital fence, bought their house three years ago. They asked their future neighbor whether the barking was that bad. She said it was OK.
But they all agree it’s gotten worse since then as the business has expanded.
“It’s been extremely tiresome,” Noney Grier said. “Weekends are terrible. It’s around-the-clock barking.”
Grier, who owns a dog herself, said she doesn’t want to sit outside in her backyard and has abandoned plans to invest in a deck because the noise level was so bad.
Current town law fines dog owners if their animals bark continuously for 15 minutes or more and can be heard anywhere beyond the owner’s property. If a dog stops for any amount of time, the clock starts over.
Fines are $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense and $250 for the third and following offenses. Pike said Niskayuna Police have been called to the animal hospital 11 times but he has never been fined.
But when complaints from neighbors like Grier continued, the Town Board proposed amendments to the law. Changes would cut the barking time to 10 minutes and fine owners if their dogs barked intermittently over a period of 20 minutes at night and 30 minutes during the day. Town attorney Rob Hess said “intermittently” has yet to be defined and dog owners, not Pike, would be fined.
Pike, who said he has been discussing a solution with the town and neighbors to keep down the noise, now fears the changes will cripple his business.
“The concern is that we lose business and lose money. The fine is five times what we charge for a night of boarding,” Pike said. “I’m working on it, but the town decided that trying to fine me for operating my business the same way it’s been done for 60 years doesn’t make me feel like a valued or welcome part of the community.”
Pike said he spent $20,000 on a planning proposal to expand his parking lot so that dogs wouldn’t be provoked by cars to bark and add square footage in the building to house cats separately. He received a letter from the town in March 2018 that his proposed plans would require a deviance from zoning laws. The hospital, which existed before the area was zoned residential, has been grandfathered into current laws but has restrictions on how much it can expand.
Pike met with Noney Grier and Town Supervisor
Yasmine Syed in April to discuss solutions. He then researched veterinary medicine to find ways to alleviate animal stress and reduce barking, which he said he implemented with success. Residents said the noise level has gone down this past week — prior to the hearing — although Pike said he hadn’t made any changes since May.
Pike said he was shocked to learn about the public hearing on the proposed amendments from a customer and wished the town would have notified him. Town Attorney Rob Hess said the change was discussed at prior meetings as well as posted in Town Hall and local news.
Niskayuna residents are now picking sides and prepping for Tuesday’s hearing at Town Hall. Loyal customer Morgan Hook, who has been bringing his dogs to the animal hospital for more than 10 years, said he drives out of his way for the services because the staff cared so well for his pets, even choking up when they had to put his previous dog down.hooksaidheorhis wife plan to show their support for Pike at the public hearing.
The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Niskayuna Town Hall.