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Date: 5/11/2021
NORTHAMPTON – Ward 2 residents gathered in the pouring rain for a conversation with Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz and Ward 2 City Councilor Karen Foster to discuss a proposed animal control facility next to Ray Ellerbrook Field before Narkewicz said the project would move to a different location.
To start the meeting, Narkewicz said the building would be built out to house, at most, eight animals at a time.
“The building itself is 2,000 square feet, it would be a single-story building, it would have eight separate stalls inside for dogs. We typically have one to two and most nights zero, but we wanted to build it for the worst-case scenario where we have to take a whole collection of animals out of a home,” he said.
He added that the facility would only serve as a transition shelter for animals before they are moved into a permanent home.
“It is not a day care or boarding facility. It is really designed so we have a safe place for these dogs or cats until we can relocate their owner, get them fostered, or find another avenue to get them to a safe avenue or facility,” Narkewicz said.
After Narkewicz finished his opening comments, residents were given the opportunity to express their concerns over the facility.
While she said she was against building the facility in a residential area, one resident, Maggie Leonard, said she did not want the city to spend extra money to retrofit a space and remove it from the tax roll.
“I think that while we are residents, we are taxpayers here. Quite honestly, I do not want the city to go buy a dog kennel for $450,000 and try to retrofit it as a space that is not oriented in the way they are looking for and take something off the tax roll,” she said.
Nancy Smith, another resident, said that while the facility is necessary, a neighborhood is not the place to put it.
“Everyone wants to take care of the dogs, they want a facility, and they want something permanent. This is convenient, it is going to be much less of a dance, but this is not the right thing to, people just do not do it,” she said.
Another resident, Benjamin Spence, said he would rather see housing go on the proposed plot for the facility.
“I do not quite understand how it can be that anyone would think this would be a good idea, it just is not. No amount of screening will change the fact that it will be an absolute disaster. It would make more sense to me to put homes here where you can put families that benefit from the fact they are on a street with a sidewalk and public transportation,” he said.
While many residents were in favor of using the site as potential housing, Narkewicz said the city would have to change the legislation to allow for housing.
“Right now, we cannot build housing on this site, we are not allowed to because we would have to change the legislation. The legislation says it is for a municipal facility. We are not allowed to make situational decisions about zoning because that is not fair or equitable,” he said.
After listening to the residents’ comments, Narkewicz apologized for the stress he caused and said the city would look at another location for the facility.
“You have my commitment, there is not going to be a dog kennel here. I did not mean to contribute to your stress, and I understand the concerns. We do need this facility, so I hope you will help support wherever my world tour of finding a spot goes next. I am going to go back to the drawing board and we are going to look for a new location,” he said.