NORTHAMPTON — On an 8-1 vote, the City Council on Thursday night approved a request for $100,000 to buy the former Moose Lodge building and lot at 196 Cooke Ave. with the goal of constructing a city-owned animal control facility.
Councilor Marianne LaBarge of Ward 6 cast the dissenting vote, echoing many of the complaints lodged by neighbors who have said the facility does not belong in a residential area, while Councilor Stanley Moulton of Ward 1, where the site is located, voted in favor.
Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra and the Office of Planning & Sustainability requested the money in addition to the $795,000 already appropriated to the project to date. The facility would have room for eight dogs and other animals including cats and ferrets, but city officials do not expect more than two dogs on a typical day, and often fewer.
During the council’s debate on Thursday night, LaBarge said she was worried about animals being left alone for hours at a time because the facility would not be staffed around the clock. She added that the city would not be able to determine if a dog were diabetic or had other health issues that required more intensive care.
“I have a problem, and I’m going to be honest about this, about the site in general,” LaBarge said. “I’m looking at quality of life for the dogs, for the cats, but also for the people who live in that site area. … I can’t understand why” the city does not work toward a regional site, or put the new facility in a relatively open and unused place where noise from barking dogs would not bother anyone.
When councilors conducted a site visit on Monday, LaBarge said, numerous cars pulled into the Moose Lodge parking lot and drivers let out unleashed dogs. One person, she said, had four dogs without leashes, which could pose a danger because the city’s plan allows for the public to keep using the parking lot to access the Broad Brook-Fitzgerald Lake Greenway.
“We’re really working very hard to address your concerns,” Sciarra said to neighborhood residents who attended Thursday’s virtual meeting. “We, and I, are deeply committed to finding a solution, with sort of the least and most gentle impact on that area.”
Sciarra said the building would be “high quality” and have a “life expectancy” over 50 years. Solar panels on the roof would zero out any costs for energy use, she said. The city would see cost savings when it no longer contracts with other communities, such as Amherst, to use their animal control facilities.
“But probably the most significant savings, which is harder to quantify, is (animal control officer) hours,” Sciarra said. “Their time would be concentrated in Northampton and they would be able to serve their real mission and their purpose in a better way. We will gain a lot of those hours back for the work of their jobs.”
Now, lost and stray animals are kept at the Police Department headquarters on Center Street, usually in the vehicle bays and basement, until they are reunited with their owners or brought to another facility or veterinary clinic.
Moulton, the Ward 1 councilor, said neighborhood opposition is “not unanimous” and that “Ward 1 is not an island.” He said the facility would ensure humane treatment of the animals in a city with nearly 2,000 licensed dogs.
“Every ward in the city depends on centralized municipal services that are spread through various wards,” he said. “The need for an animal control facility in Northampton has been well-vetted. Two previous City Councils approved money for it,” and he said that noise mitigation efforts “will work.”
A noise study conducted by Berkshire Design Group states that the nearest residential dwelling is 250 feet away from the proposed site, and city officials have committed to including sound mitigation measures in the building’s design. Still, many neighbors are convinced that the sound of barking dogs will be more of a nuisance than the city believes.
“Our city councilors and mayor are elected to represent our interests as residents. Sadly, that did not happen last night,” Christine Clark, an opponent of the plan who lives at the abutting Pines Edge condo complex, said on Friday. “Marianne LaBarge is a true example of how a politician should govern and behave. A true hero. … She asked all the right questions.”
Clark said she and other neighbors circulated a petition among 55 houses and other residential units near the site. Forty-four people signed to show their opposition to the facility and the petition was sent to councilors, she said.
“Going forward, we will continue to fight for this land to be preserved for the people of Northampton,” Clark said. “This kennel belongs in a nonresidential area, perhaps on state land for regional use.”
Several opponents have said there are homeless people living in tents behind the former Moose Lodge, pointing to a greater need for affordable housing in the city rather than an animal control facility.
Kimberly Gerould, also of Pines Edge Drive, said she agrees with “the majority of local residents who do not want an animal facility near their homes. But I’ve always hoped the city could acquire this land and conserve it as part of the Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area.”
Last year, the city abandoned plans to build the facility on Chapel Street amid neighborhood resistance, and similar complaints derailed a proposal on Glendale Road in 2019.
“Now that they’ve made their decision, maybe they’ll listen to the residents, as they did in the previous two neighborhoods that rejected an animal control facility,” Gerould said.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.