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The Gorham town Planning Board’s approval last month of a dog-breeding facility is, for now, “null and void” because the application was not reviewed by the Ontario County Planning Board, Town Supervisor Fred Lightfoote told a crowd of some 400 people Wednesday at the Gorham Elementary School.
The town Planning Board followed the law in its process leading to approval of the project, said Lightfoote, but “missed a step.”
The application to build a dog-breeding facility on the Martin property on Route 247 will now go to the county Planning Board for review, with the town Planning Board discussing the status of the project after getting the county’s recommendations. Meanwhile, said Lightfoote, he recommends the town enact a moratorium against dog-breeding facilities. But the Town Board would have to vote on it at a future meeting.
The plan by Jolene and Curtis Martin to build the facility to house as many as 600 dogs on their 20-acre property in the town drew reactions from people all over the world, Lightfoote said before the meeting in which 33 people spoke, often heatedly and mostly opposing the project. One woman who spoke began describing a specific incident she said she experienced involving the Martins and a dog. When Lightfoote told her she was not allowed to personally attack anyone, she persisted and he ordered her to leave, which she did.
Later, before the regular board meeting, Lightfoote thanked town officials for their handling of the hundreds of phone calls, emails and other correspondences reacting to the project.
“There were things that were unkind, things we could have called the cops on...” said Lightfoote.
To be prepared for any potential trouble, a number of Ontario County sheriff’s deputies were at the packed gathering — including members of the sheriff's K-9 Unit.
A number of people volunteering or on staff with various organizations advocating for humane treatment of animals spoke.
Heather Michel of Buffalo urged the Town Board to prohibit the Martin’s from having a dog breeding facility, noting the couple’s past violations at their current site in Seneca County where the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited them for failure to care for the dogs.
Saying she obtained 9,000 signatures on an online petition through change.org, Michel asked the board how it could possibly see to the monitoring and care for hundreds of dogs.
“How will there be proper treatment of these animals?” she asked.
The Gorham town Planning Board’s approval last month of a dog-breeding facility is, for now, “null and void” because the application was not reviewed by the Ontario County Planning Board, Town Supervisor Fred Lightfoote told a crowd of some 400 people Wednesday at the Gorham Elementary School.
The town Planning Board followed the law in its process leading to approval of the project, said Lightfoote, but “missed a step.”
The application to build a dog-breeding facility on the Martin property on Route 247 will now go to the county Planning Board for review, with the town Planning Board discussing the status of the project after getting the county’s recommendations. Meanwhile, said Lightfoote, he recommends the town enact a moratorium against dog-breeding facilities. But the Town Board would have to vote on it at a future meeting.
The plan by Jolene and Curtis Martin to build the facility to house as many as 600 dogs on their 20-acre property in the town drew reactions from people all over the world, Lightfoote said before the meeting in which 33 people spoke, often heatedly and mostly opposing the project. One woman who spoke began describing a specific incident she said she experienced involving the Martins and a dog. When Lightfoote told her she was not allowed to personally attack anyone, she persisted and he ordered her to leave, which she did.
Later, before the regular board meeting, Lightfoote thanked town officials for their handling of the hundreds of phone calls, emails and other correspondences reacting to the project.
“There were things that were unkind, things we could have called the cops on...” said Lightfoote.
To be prepared for any potential trouble, a number of Ontario County sheriff’s deputies were at the packed gathering — including members of the sheriff's K-9 Unit.
A number of people volunteering or on staff with various organizations advocating for humane treatment of animals spoke.
Heather Michel of Buffalo urged the Town Board to prohibit the Martin’s from having a dog breeding facility, noting the couple’s past violations at their current site in Seneca County where the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited them for failure to care for the dogs.
Saying she obtained 9,000 signatures on an online petition through change.org, Michel asked the board how it could possibly see to the monitoring and care for hundreds of dogs.
“How will there be proper treatment of these animals?” she asked.
Chuck Gladle of Rushville called dog breeding “a disgusting business. A puppy mill is only the first step on a death mill.”
Gorham resident Debbie North addressed the attacks on town officials. “There has been a barrage of unkind postings on Internet sites, filled with half-truths, libelous statements, and to some extent, hate speech for a group of our neighbors. Some of the postings have come dangerously close to what can be termed domestic terrorism,” she said, adding, “our town officials are decent, honest, hard-working people.”
She continued: “To those who find the very nature of this business unpalatable, please take your concerns to those able to change laws — that means to our state and federal governments.”
She said that while Gorham can have a moratorium in place to amend local laws, “for those looking to make bigger changes, go to the bigger governments.”
