Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO:	David Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Brandon McGuire, Assistant to the City Manager
CC:	Diane Stoddard, Casey Toomay, Toni Wheeler, Mark Bradford, James King, Tarik Khatib, Adam Heffley, Terri Pierce, Scott McCullough, Kurt Schroeder, Brian Jiminez, Diane Trybom, Sherri Riedemann
DATE:	December 10, 2014
RE:	Regulations of Commercial Boarding Kennels

Background

The following memo is intended to provide information regarding the regulation of commercial boarding kennels by the City of Lawrence and by local and state agencies. 

Boarding Kennel Regulations of the State of Kansas

Boarding kennel operators in Kansas are required to obtain a kennel operator license from the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Health. The Division of Animal Health manages the Animal Facilities Inspection Program through which state agents conduct inspections of kennels to ensure the health, safety and welfare of animals in accordance with the Kansas Pet Animal Act. The inspections cycle ranges from every six months to every two years, depending on a kennel’s performance in previous inspections. Complaints about licensed kennels and reports of unlicensed kennels may also trigger inspections. The inspections consist of a pre-inspection meeting with the operator, an inspection of the kennel premises, and an exit interview. The objectives of the inspections are to educate the operators and ensure the health, welfare and safety of the animals.

A range of enforcement actions are available to the State if a licensee fails an inspection. The most severe enforcement actions are taken when a kennel fails an inspection due to issues that impact the health, safety or welfare of animals. Enforcement actions may be as severe as suspension or revocation of a license and/or a fine of up to $1,000 per violation and/or criminal penalties.

Boarding Kennel Regulations of the City of Lawrence

The Lawrence City Code provides for some limited regulation of boarding kennels, which is outlined in the following list. No additional regulatory authority specific to commercial boarding kennels is provided in the City Code.

Ø Chapter 6, Business Licenses, Taxes and Regulations: establishes a business license and fee schedule for dog kennels (6-108.3).

Ø Chapter 3, Regulation of Animals: defines animal ownership as anyone keeping, maintaining, controlling, selling, trading, buying, harboring or possessing an animal (3-102, D and E).

Ø Chapter 3, Regulation of Animals: requires any person that owns five or more dogs that are ten weeks in age or older to obtain a commercial kennel license (3-106).

Ø Chapter 20, Land Development Code: establishes boarding kennels as a permitted use in commercial zoning districts CC, CR and CS, and in industrial districts IL and IG.

The City Code (3-102, D and E) broadly defines ownership as it pertains to dogs, and requires that anyone owning five or more dogs obtain a commercial kennel license. Based on the standards set forth in the City Code, a boarding kennel would be required to obtain a commercial kennel license if it boards five or more dogs simultaneously. No boarding kennel in Lawrence has applied for the City’s commercial boarding kennel license in recent history, and no boarding kennel is currently licensed by the City. All commercial boarding kennels are required to be licensed with the State of Kansas.      

An application for a commercial boarding kennel license requires the approval of the Planning Director to ensure the facility is located in an appropriately zoned district. The zoning review is the extent of the approval workflow for a kennel license. The licensing fee is $20.00 per dog for the first nine dogs, and $1.00 per dog for each additional dog.

Planning and Zoning Code Enforcement

Code Enforcement staff conducted a search for animal services businesses, as defined in the Land Development Code (20-1710), to check that each facility is located in an appropriately zoned district. Of the known animal services businesses, two appear to be located in zoning districts that do not permit animal services. Neither of those two businesses appears to offer boarding kennel services and would not be subject to the commercial kennel licensing requirement. All other known animal services businesses are located in appropriately zoned districts.    

Fire Code Inspections

The Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Department routinely conducts annual inspections to ensure that facilities, including commercial boarding kennels, comply with the Fire Code. Of the known animal services businesses in Lawrence, two are addressing open violations stemming from fire inspections. The first violation is due to an emergency light that needs service (e.g. an issue with the battery), and the second violation is due to a cover plate missing from an electrical outlet.

The Fire Code does not require commercial boarding kennels to be equipped with fire suppression or monitoring systems. Commercial kennels are defined as a Class B Occupancy facility under the Fire Code, and only Class B ambulatory care facilities are required to have fire suppression and monitoring systems in place. Additional fire system standards specific to animal kennels could be developed and codified. The City has codified the 2012 International Fire Code, published by the International Code Council (ICC), which is the most recent iteration of the code book and the most widely utilized fire code. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes an alternative set of fire codes and standards. NFPA 150 requires more stringent fire monitoring and/or suppression requirements than the ICC Fire Code. If desired, NFPA 150 could be further researched for opportunities to amend the City’s fire regulations specific to animal housing facilities.     

Animal Control Operations

Lawrence Animal Control is authorized to enforce City Code Chapter 3, the Animal Code, which addresses the humane treatment, safety and welfare of animals. Boarding kennels are subject to the City Animal Code, although the Code does not authorize Animal Control to conduct routine inspections of boarding kennels. The State of Kansas administers a thorough inspection program based on the Kansas Pet Animal Act, but the Lawrence City Code could be amended to create a local inspection program as an additional requirement of boarding kennels. 

There have been no cases of Animal code violations by boarding kennels in recent history. If a boarding kennel were to violate the Animal Code, Animal Control would investigate the kennel and would work in partnership with the Lawrence Humane Society and the State Division of Animal Health to address the situation.

Boarding Kennel Regulations of Other Cities

Staff researched the kennel regulation practices of several cities in Kansas, including Bonner Springs, Kansas City, KS, Manhattan, Olathe, Overland Park, Wichita, Topeka and Lenexa. The research included phone interviews and a review of municipal codes, and the results are detailed in Attachment I. Of the cities researched, only Manhattan licenses and inspects commercial boarding kennels through specific commercial kennel regulations. None of the other cities license or regulate boarding kennels. Most cities cited duplication of services with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Health as the reason for not regulating commercial boarding kennels locally.

Some cities, including Bonner Springs, Kansas City and Lenexa offer a form of hobby kennel permit, or special pet permit, which essentially serves as a variance that permits citizens to own more animals than the maximum allowed by the municipal code. Lawrence Animal Control enforces the limit on dogs set forth in the City Code. No more than four dogs may be owned at a single location without obtaining a commercial kennel license. The Land Development Code does not permit kennels in residentially zoned districts though, so the City’s kennel license is not a mechanism to permit citizens to own more dogs at a residence than the City Code allows.

Conclusion

The Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Health administers a thorough regulatory system for boarding kennel operations and animal services operations, which is authorized by the Kansas Pet Animal Act. The Pet Animal Act and the State’s regulatory services prioritize the health, safety and welfare of animals. Boarding kennel regulations, including licensing, inspection and enforcement are not commonly performed at the local level in Kansas because such local services and regulations would duplicate the State’s efforts.

The only current requirement to be granted a City commercial kennel business license is that the facility must be located in an appropriately zoned district. If the City Commission desires to create comprehensive boarding kennel regulations, then additional requirements are needed. Staff could conduct further research into requirements for fire monitoring and suppression systems that specifically address animal housing facilities. Additionally, staff could further research the Kansas Pet Animal Act and engage local stakeholders to identify opportunities to create regulatory requirements that go beyond those mandated by the State.

If the Commission desires to maintain the current kennel licensing requirement, then it would be helpful to make minor revisions to the code in order to specify the types of businesses and services that are required to obtain a kennel license. As an alternative, the references to the commercial boarding kennel license could be eliminated from the City Code.

Attachment I
City	Kennel License	Administration of Kennel License
Manhattan	Yes – Commercial License	Applications are submitted to the City Clerk and require the approval of Planning and Zoning and Animal Control. Animal control conducts kennel inspections. Inspections are based on the standards of care practiced at the city’s animal shelter. The standards are established in the city code.
Bonner Springs	Yes – Residential License	Offers a kennel license to commercial kennels and residential properties. No commercial kennels are currently licensed. Instead, the license is used to permit residents to own more pets than city code allows. Applications are submitted to the City Clerk and require the approval of Zoning and Animal Control.
Kansas City, KS	Yes – Residential License	Offers a private kennel license that permits residents to own more pets than the city code allows. The city does not license commercial kennels.
Lenexa	Yes – Residential License	Offers a special pet license that permits residents to own more pets than the city code allows. The city does not license commercial kennels.
Olathe	No	To avoid duplication of the State’s services, the city does not license commercial kennels
Overland Park	No	To avoid duplication of the State’s services, the city does not license commercial kennels
Wichita	No	To avoid duplication of the State’s services, the city does not license commercial kennels
Topeka	No	To avoid duplication of the State’s services, the city does not license commercial kennels