Haldi Road Open House Draws Dozens
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Prince George, B.C. – Residents who live in the Haldi Road neighbourhood had the chance to learn more about a new proposal for the former school in their area last night.
Dozens showed up at Vanway Elementary and were greeted by City of Prince George staff members and commercial realtor Don Kehler who was there acting on behalf of the proponent acquiring the property.
The new proposal would like to see the Official Community Plan amended to remove a policy which would permit a Therapeutic Community Care Facility on the lot for the supportive residential care of up to 30 persons and be rezoned to allow for a dog kennel operation.
Kehler noted the proposal was “pretty innocuous” pointing out the proponents plan on housing 30-40 dogs 24/7 (he said that number would fluctuate depending on market conditions).
During a question and answer session he added the proponent is from Prince George and said the daughter is a licensed dog trainer who plans “to be highly involved” in the operation.
Kehler acknowledged water use as a concern but said it wouldn’t be a problem with dogs.
“You’ve got to have a bowl of water for them and that bowl can last for a day or more. They’re even going to use non-spillable bowls.”
He said noise shouldn’t be a concern either noting the animals would be inside at night.
“Sound barriers inside and he’s looking at cleaning up the grounds. He’s got some unique ideas he’s picked up from the U.S. he’s looking at bringing here to ensure that there are no issues in respect to the neighbourhood.”
Haldi Road resident Rick Bowman lives the equivalent of two city blocks away from the school and came to hear what Kehler had to say.
“Well it’s nice to see something going in the building. If it’s done properly it could be an asset to the neighbourhood,” he said. “But I wish the owners were here because those are the people I’d like to address the questions to.”
He said his main concern “was more traffic than anything else” and whether or not they’d be good neighbours.
Bowman attributed the big turnout to how the previous proposal was handled.
“The last one got caught up in the manner in which the previous people got their zoning which scared the hell out of everybody in the neighbourhood. They were sitting down at city hall and saying we will do as we wish and that got a lot of backs up.”
He said his initial impression is this new proposal has been handled much better.
Moving forward, the City will be requesting comment again from residents following 1st and 2nd reading of the bylaws.
The date of council consideration of 1st and 2nd reading has not yet been determined.
Comments
Red Flag emerges when one sees a statement such as this in reference to a proposed dog boarding facility.
“Kehler acknowledged water use as a concern but said it wouldn’t be a problem with dogs.
‘You’ve got to have a bowl of water for them and that bowl can last for a day or more. They’re even going to use non-spillable bowls.’”
Google “Determining water consumption in animal care facilities”. It is pretty common knowledge among those who have an inkling about this type of business that water requirements are significant.
According to article, a 40 dog boarding/grooming facility requires about 700 gallons of water per day. That’s 2650 litres. The well capacity is 2800 litres as I recall, but the crucial thing is the refresh rate. Did they ever do a proper study of the refresh rate?
My understanding the water test done was inconclusive. Meaning was not totally completed, apparently a piece of pipe broke in the well.
Let’s face it, the neightbours would prefer dogs to recovering women. This has never been a water issue.
Sorry Axman, you must have been either out of town or buried yourself in a hole. You have absolutely no idea of that process! It was the water FIRST, then much later came the rest. Oh, I forgot > the way the whole mess was handled.
Wake up – or go back into your hole.
Nonsense. The NIMBY’s searched high and low until they found a viable reason to oppose the women’s recovery center. All that to mask the real reason, that being their fear of the unknown.
Water probably was not the main issue, but that does not change the fact that water is an issue. That is, even if everybody is happy with a facility for dogs, if the well won’t supply enough water without negative impact on the neighbours, the facility will only be viable if an alternative water supply is available.
How much of your investment did you lose in that recovery center fiasco axman? You sure are butt hurt over it.
You must be one of the NIMBY’s?
“He said noise shouldn’t be a concern either noting the animals would be inside at night”
Shift workers are sleeping during the day.
Kehler will say anything to make a buck… he is a realtor..
He was a banker once too. I think he was involved in that PG Hotel Pat Bell, Fehr deal too no?
“But I wish the owners were here because those are the people I’d like to address the questions to.”
Why in the world would you hold an open house such as this without the prospective purchaser there to answer questions, and meet prospective
neighbors?
Good to hear city staff showed up. Wonder if the city is finally going to get water and sewer going in on Haldi as was promised years ago.
Hmmm 30-40 dogs and a bowl of water each will last a day. Now add in a bath while grooming and that adds up to more than a bowl a day. And will there be a maximum number of dogs allowed? And there was no owner/employee showing up, just a realtor?. If I was looking to the neighbours to approve of my business plans in their neighbourhood, I would have made more of an attempt to meet them in person because they would have had answers from them directly.
Just saying.
Apparently a lot of water goes for washing down the floors. I gather that in such facilities there are a lot of dogs that are not house-trained or that lose control in unfamiliar or stressful surroundings.
Kehler works for Powerhouse. So would this not make him working for the owner of the property? Kehler’s name is listed as one of the contacts under Agent Information.
5877 LESLIE ROAD
PG City South (Zone 74), British Columbia, V2N0A3
$700,000
Property Type: Commercial
Size: 12600 sqft
Lot: 10.02 ac
Year built: 9999
Added: 3 weeks ago
Postal: V2N0A3
– See more at: teampowerhouse.com/?property=5877-leslie-road#sthash.zG9hBqxJ.dpuf
“Partially completed Northern Supportive Recovery Center just off of Haldi Road. Major investments were made to transform the school into a modern recovery center. The legislation did not go forward as planned and has now left the center only partially renovated. 12,600 sq ft building located on just over 10 acres is available for immediate possession. Currently zoned AR1 – Rural Residential. – See more at: //teampowerhouse.com/?property=5877-leslie-road#sthash.zG9hBqxJ.dpuf
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