Starke County Commissioners Approve Dog Kennel Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners: Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom and Jennifer Davis

After several months of discussion, and a rejection of at least one draft ordinance, the Starke County Commissioners passed the Dog Kennel Ordinance with a unanimous vote.

A simplified explanation of the ordinance is that it will regulate dog kennels in the county and provides the language for creating and operating a kennel.

The ordinance was written after much work by Plan Commission President Butch Richie, Director Bruce Williams and a committee of dog enthusiasts. Commissioner Kathy Norem, who with her background of breeding show dogs, was also helpful in comments made from her position as a Commissioner.

Continue reading →

Starke County Planning Commission Puts Final Touches on Proposed Dog Kennel Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Planning Commission discussed the proposed dog kennel ordinance at their meeting last week.

Dan Bridegroom suggested that a commercial kennel definition in the form of an I.C. code be added to the ordinance. Bruce Williams, Administrator/Building Commissioner, suggested adding the phrase “more than four and less than 20 unaltered female dogs that are at least twelve months of age” to the ordinance under commercial kennel definition. Commission Counsel, Steve Dodge, added that if more than four male or female dogs are at one residence, the homeowner will need a kennel license. The changes were approved by a vote of 5-3 and now the revised ordinance will be sent back to the Commissioners for their approval.

Continue reading →

Starke County Planning Commission Tables Dog Kennel Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI

The ordinance regulating dog kennels is slowly making progress to being approved, and it’s been sent back to the tech committee for further revision. Previously, a committee consisting of many dog owners collaborated on making a revision to the proposed ordinance that would differentiate between commercial and non-commercial kennels, but none of the members of the Planning Commission had a list of the people on that committee.

Continue reading →

Starke County Commissioners Fail to Approve Dog Kennel Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners ( L to R ) Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom, Jennifer Davis

Starke County Commission President, Dan Bridegroom, said that the County might be back to square one this week after a dog kennel ordinance failed to gain approval for the third time.

Over 60 dog owners crowded into the County Annex building Monday night to disagree with many aspects of the proposed ordinance that was being presented by Administrator/Building Inspector, Bruce Williams.

After an hour of discussion and comments from the audience, the Commissioners, on a motion by Kathy Norem and seconded by Jennifer Davis, voted to deny the ordinance as presented, and sent it back to the Plan Commission.

Continue reading →

Starke County Commissioners Discuss Dog Kennel Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners ( L to R ) Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom, Jennifer Davis

An ordinance regulating dog kennels was discussed at Monday’s Starke County Commissioners meeting. The Planning Commission has been working on this ordinance for several years, and it has been sent back to the Planning Commission with several comments from the commissioners to consider for correction. The maximum number of dogs that would be allowed outside at any time is six, but the Commissioners had a concern with that and requested it to be changed.

Continue reading →