Thursday August 27, 2020 ~ SOOKE, BC
by Mary P Brooke, editor | Island Social Trends
As a small business in Sooke was just about to launch their new little enterprise, a bylaw not previously discussed put everything on hold.
Earlier this year, Susan Browne who lives in Sunriver Estates started building a standalone structure in her backyard to be a ‘cat hotel’.
She acquired a building permit from the District of Sooke, and went to the work and expense of building the ‘shed’ in her backyard which took about a year and half.
No mention of the kennel limitations:
But no one mentioned Zoning Bylaw #600 to Browne. The description of a kennel in Sooke’s bylaws limits the number of pets someone can have at a residential address to four (beyond four it is considered to be a kennel). For a kennel within the District of Sooke, that requires at least 2 hectares of land.
Last week Browne went to the District of Sooke to apply for a business licence. Even then she was issued the form but not told about the restriction to four animals at a residential premises.
She posted the availability of cat spaces on her Facebook page. That’s when things let loose.
Not a complaint, but a discussion:
With simply the hope of having a small home-based enterprise to help with income in her senior years, Susan Browne is still hoping to sort things out with the municipality in a way that she can fulfill her business goals and secure her construction investment.
She is engaging in discussions with the District – including with Sooke Bylaw Officer Media Mills, to see how things can be sorted out.
Mills told Island Social Trends on Monday August 24 that the whole thing is under review. “The application is going through an internal review process, as do all applications,” Mills said. “So until that is complete, we don’t have an answer. The decision hasn’t been made,” she said.
Historical perspective:
An animal rescue service called Victoria Pet Food Bank and Feral Cat Rehabilitation Society (aka SAFARS) — operated by local resident Margarita Dominguez — who approached District of Sooke council in 2015 for permission to operate out of a residential property was declined, based on the determination that over four cats would make it a kennel and therefore require at least 2 hectares of land. The District went so far as to send CRD Animal Control to Dominguez’s home to assure the bylaw enforcement.
Boarding pets:
To make a go of the business, Browne say she would need at least four visiting cats being booked into her cat hotel, says Browne. She has two of her own cats. So that makes at least six kitty’s under the roof of the cat hotel, and pushes the number of felines past the allowable limit.
Boarding people’s pets is a welcome service in any community, when people might have to be away. Or just babysitting a favourite feline for the day if something suddenly comes up.
Small business in a small town:
Over the years, many small businesses in Sooke have met challenges of various types that impede growth or prosperity of their enterprises. Sometimes it has to do with zoning (such as related to signage), or poor municipal decisions about roadway access.
Some core business sectors in Sooke do well, such as grocery, pharmacy, small cafes, and tourism-related gift shops.
For other types of services that are normally found in larger towns, there often isn’t enough local customer base to either support more than one outlet in any given sector.
===== Related Links:
Sooke Animal Regulation and Impounding Bylaw No. 392 (2009; last amended in 2019)
Sooke Zoning Bylaw No. 600 (2013; last updated May 11, 2020) | Page 12 shows definition of a KENNEL as a use where more than four dogs and/or cats are kept, trained, cared for, bred and/or boarded, for which the District of Sooke requires the subject property to have 5 acres of land.
District of Sooke Committee of the Whole – May 4, 2015 – includes minutes from March 11, 2015 at which Margarita Dominguez of the Victoria Pet Food Bank and Feral Cat Rehabilitation Society addressed the Committee as to the Capital Regional District (CRD) Animal Control Services Agreement and recent changes in the Protective Services Division to amalgamate services in particular Bylaw Enforcement and Animal Control. Ms. Dominguez has concerns as to how the amalgamation of services will affect the animals. (pg 21 in the PDF)
District of Sooke Committee of the Whole – May 4, 2015 – includes notation of a discussion of the committee about kennels and whether the Victoria Pet Food Bank and Feral Cat Rehabilitation Society could have more than four cats at their current location (see pages 39 & 40 in the PDF).
BC Local Government Act, with a section on regulation of animals (last updated 2003)
BC SPCA Model Bylaw (September 2017) – not presented or passed by the District of Sooke. Page 35 establishes the kennel license requirements which are the ones that this new pet hotel in Sooke may be following.