Kent Animal Shelter, looking to replace aging shelter in Pine Barrens, faces opposition from environmentalists

Kent Animal Shelter in Calverton is hoping its cramped, spartan conditions will soon be a thing of the past.

The shelter is looking to tear down three of the five buildings on its property and consolidate them into a single, state-of-the-art facility, capable of housing more than twice the number of animals than the 47-year-old cinder block building which currently shelters about 25 of the town’s homeless dogs.

Years of hurdles and permit applications have stalled the much-needed renovations due to the shelter’s location in a highly sensitive environmental area —  directly next to the Peconic River, in the middle of the Pine Barrens.

Shelter executive director Pamela Green believes the shelter has finally drafted a site plan that will please both community members and environmental activists — and gain the approval of the Central Pine Barrens Commission. Last year, the shelter withdrew its application for approval of a previous version of the plan.

The facility is located in the Pine Barrens core preservation area and new construction requires a hardship waiver from the state commission.

Long Island Pine Barrens Society executive director Richard Amper said his organization opposes the shelter’s plan and its board has voted to litigate should the commission grant the waiver “for political or emotional reasons.”

“They’re not allowed to do it in the core preservation area under state law,” Amper said. “The commission does not have the statutory authority to grant the waiver,” he said.

“It’s a terrific facility and it meets a terrific need, but the commission can’t carve out exceptions for causes that are worthy. It sets a dangerous precedent,” Amper said. The only legal ground for a hardship waiver to build a new building is to demonstrate there is no other beneficial use for the property, he said.

The commission’s approval is Kent’s final obstacle to building a new shelter, but Green says the new site plan — significantly revised from the one rejected by the commission last year — will address the most harmful impacts that the aging building has had on its surroundings.

“This facility is very old,” Green said. “It was built 47 years ago. There’s a lot to be improved upon.”

The plans for a new 10,000-square-foot facility include a new sanitation system, which will reduce the shelter’s environmental impacts on the river by “a tremendous amount,” said Green, who described herself as a “tree-hugger.”

“It will cut down nitrogen loading [from the septic system] by about 120 pounds a year, compared to the present system,” she said. “That alone is equal to half a dozen single-family homes. That’s a significant difference.” Set back about 300 feet from the river, with native vegetation in between the shelter and the river as a natural buffer, the new facility will also reduce noise pollution and visual impacts compared to the existing facility.

Amper countered that it may be a better septic system but it’s still a septic system and it may be set back farther from the river, but it’s still not far enough. The facility — and its septic system — simply doesn’t belong in the core preservation area, he said.

Amper acknowledges that opposition to this application is difficult because of the nature of the facility. “I’ve got a rescue puppy. I love dogs. But protecting the Pine Barrens or the water under the Pine Barrens is not convenient but necessary.”

The new building will also allow the shelter to more than double the amount of dogs it can house. Currently, the shelter can house 25 dogs in its kennel, along with about 100 additional cats. The new kennel will be able to house 60 dogs in a modern building that will significantly improve living conditions for the shelter’s animals.

“As you can imagine, living in a cement block building is not the best solution for any creature,” Green said. “We do the best we can, but they need something more modern.”

The new facility will also contain “interaction rooms” for adopters to get acquainted with their future pets. Currently, those interested in adopting have to go outside in the shelter’s yard to spend some quality time with any of the dogs, a deterrent for potential adopters during the cold winter months.

Kent Animal Shelter found homes for 785 pets in 2014. The shelter’s clinic does more than 4,000 surgeries a year. A spay and neuter facility in the new building will allow the shelter to provide even more services to the community and its animals, Green said.

“A lot comes out of this little facility,” said Green. “We don’t have very much, but we’ve been making it work. We do a lot, but if we have the opportunity to do more, we will.”

The total cost of the project is estimated at about $2.5 million, Green said, which the shelter will obtain through capital campaign fundraising and donations.

The project currently has ascertained approval from all necessary local agencies aside from the Central Pine Barrens Commission, which will hold a public hearing on the proposed facility next Wednesday, March 18, at 2 p.m. at Southampton Town Hall.

“They just want to make sure the environment is protected,” said Green, “and so do we. The environmental benefits are a large part of why we want to do this.”

Amper said he’d like to see the shelter relocate to another site. “I think there has to be another solution. Insisting this be done in violation of state environmental law is wrong.”

Green encourages supporters of the shelter’s reconstruction to attend the public hearing next week at Southampton Town Hall.  Kent is also gathering signatures in support of their plan on an online petition.

Correction: A previously published version of this article stated that the Pine Barrens Commission “rejected” the shelter’s application last year. The application was withdrawn, not denied.