BY JESSICA STEELEY
Clarkston News Staff Writer
Independence Township Planning Commission voted, Dec. 8, to table Special Land Use approval for a dog kennel operation on Pine Knob Road, Millstones Golden LLC, a golden retriever breeding business.
Several letters were sent to the commission to be included in the meeting packet, both in favor and against the breeding operation, along with several comments made during the public hearing.
Many of the positive remarks came from past customers of Millstones Golden, who have either purchased a puppy from the breeder or co-own one. Most of the negative were from citizens concerned with the business dropping the property value of the surrounding area and the impact of a commercial business in a residential zone.
Planning commission member Brian Galley said the commercial business aspect wasn’t necessarily an issue because of the residents’ close proximity to Pine Knob Ski and Snowboard Resort, one of the largest commercial businesses in the township.
Also a concern, in late spring of this year, some of the puppies at Millstones Golden were infected with parvovirus.
According to Oakland County Animal Control, eight puppies came down with parvo. Seven were brought into the Wilson Vet Clinic on May 6, 7 and 8 to be treated and they were all released on May 21 in good health.
The eighth puppy was treated by Dawn Wung, owner of Millstones Golden.
This outbreak was the source of some negative letters sent to the planning commission, as two past customers bought Millstones Golden puppies which were diagnosed with parvo a few days later. According to the letters, their puppies were brought home from Millstones Golden on May 1, 2016.
Wung said the virus was brought into her house about a week before the puppies left and by the time they realized they had an outbreak, the puppies had been sent home with their new families.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) website, canine parvovirus is a highly contagious virus that can affect all dogs, but most at risk is unvaccinated dogs and puppies younger than four months.
Wung said she vaccinated her puppies twice for parvo. The AVMA website states even vaccinated puppies can occasionally be infected by parvovirus and despite proper vaccination, a small percentage of dogs may not develop protective immunity and are still susceptible to infection.
Though news of the outbreak caused some to be concerned over Millstones Golden breeding practices, the main issue involving the planning commission has to do with the land use and zoning.
Besides lack of information, the commission was also concerned with the area being much smaller than usually required for kennels.
The requirement is 10 acres and they only have three, though Millstones Golden did lease seven acres from the First Congregational Church of Clarkston, which owns some of the surrounding property.
However, Wung said their zoning isn’t appropriate to add to her three acres.
Galley said if the safety, size and scope of the operation can be guaranteed, licensed and certified in some manner, he would lean in support of granting the Special Land Use Permit.
Ultimately the planning commission decided more specific information was needed to make a final recommendation and postponed the issue until a later date.