Lakewood Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 2025

The Lakewood Planning Commission met on November 6, 2025, at 6:00 PM in the City Hall Auditorium to consider a single agenda item: a conditional use permit for a dog grooming business at 1384 Bonnieview Avenue. The meeting included a staff presentation, discussion of outdated code requirements, and a proposed code amendment to separate pet grooming from pet boarding. No public testimony was heard, and no final vote was taken on the conditional use application by the end of the available transcript.

Discussion Items

• Conditional Use – Docket No. 11-33-25, 1384 Bonnieview Ave., The Velvet Tail:
  • Applicant: Mariah Murphy, owner of The Velvet Tail, currently operating a dog grooming service at Pet Trunnel for nine years. She submitted a letter and eight pages of client support petitions.
  • Property Description: Approximately 1,000 square feet in the C2 Commercial Retail District, adjacent to C3 and R2 districts. The previous use was an antique store.
  • Staff Presentation: Brynne (staff) presented the case, noting that current conditional use requirements (e.g., four off-street parking spaces per groomer, prohibition of residential components) are outdated and inconsistent with the 2016 parking code. The property had a prior dog grooming use in 1990 and 2003 with no parking variances. No complaints have been recorded for similar uses.
  • Staff Recommendation: Approval with conditions that the applicant comply with adequate ventilation, odor, and noise control measures. Additionally, the administration is preparing a code amendment to separate pet grooming from pet boarding, aligning C2 regulations with C3.
  • Commission Discussion:
    • Commissioners questioned the definition of "adequate" ventilation and who determines compliance (building department).
    • Procedural concerns were raised about whether the commission can waive code conditions (e.g., residential component restriction) and whether the code amendment should be a separate agenda item.
    • The City Law Director (Ms. Nochta) advised that the code is ambiguous and capricious, and the commission could grant the conditional use while conditioning it on a code cleanup. The administration confirmed the amendment will be submitted to City Council for first reading on November 17, 2025, but may be delayed due to a heavy docket.
    • Administration requested that the commission approve the application now, conditioned on the administration submitting the code amendment, to avoid delaying the applicant’s business plans. This approach has been used previously (e.g., medical tattooing).
    • The transcript ends before a formal vote; the meeting appeared to be awaiting the applicant’s appearance to discuss her timeline.

Key Outcomes

• No Final Vote: The commission discussed the conditional use application extensively and received administration’s recommendation to approve with conditions and a code amendment. No motion or vote was recorded in the provided transcript; the meeting was still in progress.
• Code Amendment: The administration announced a draft code amendment to separate pet grooming (permitted as a transient use in retail districts) from pet boarding (retaining stricter restrictions). The amendment will be submitted to City Council for first reading on November 17, 2025, and is expected to return to the Planning Commission for review before final adoption.
• Next Steps: The applicant is expected to present her timeline; the commission will then decide on approval conditioned on code cleanup. The administration will proceed with the code amendment process.