Neighbors petition against doggie day care

Just off busy East Lake Road, Mel and Janice Gavron have created their own private preserve.

[XPLODIN EYEBALL]

They don't want the pooch park because they can't make any money from it as they could if it were a 7-11.Like Michelle Papes said,,,"Nothin' personal".

[AJX]

So sad. Migawd, it's six acres and 12 dogs. I've got three on a 50 ft wide lot. Some of these snooty subdivision people need a life. Just because they bought a house doesn't mean they own the world around it. If you want to control what a person does with their property, BUY IT!

[Dawg Days on the Bay]

Our best wishes in the Gavron's efforts. We spent two years searching for our location in West Tampa and it is not easy to make people understand that dog day cares are not noisy or unsanitary. We love our new camp in historic downtown West Tampa and the neighbors have welcomed us with open arms. These first 3 months have been exiciting and we love being part of this Tampa neighbood. May the Gavron continue their efforts for all of our fur friends who deserve to be happy as we are.

[Concerned in Tampa Bay]

Gavron's you rock. I'm glad you turned your nose up to the neighbors and didn't bow down to them. Thanks for making a friendly place for dogs. You sound like good people.

[Fido]

If the property isn't zoned for it then it should remain residential.

[cujobuster]

Dogs are the best friends that us people can have; why not let them be sociable when mom and dad are at work or people play? So long as the facility is clean, has adequate space for exercise and the caretakers are loving people there is nothing wrong with it. I own and operate a grooming salon and am looking forward to finding a suitable location in the future to establish a doggie day care center - at my current location, I would not feel comfortable with more than 4 dogs due to the facility size. I also have 18 adult dogs and puppies at home - pups will find new families, and the house is utter mayhem at times, but there is a lot of love there...people are stupid; our fur babies give more love during their short lives than human beings know how to do. FIDO, you sound like you live in a restricted subdivision and love it; good luck to you. I applaud the Gavrons and wish their furry friends the best in life.

[concerned neighbor]

Our problem was NOT with the dogs. The problem was that the zone was residential and the County seems to change zones with the wind. Mr. Gavron had that lot for sale for 9 months prior to this for 3.24 million dollars. Many times what an empty lot would be worth. Our concern was that with a zone change, this could allow further commercial development in an area which was classified as a "Green Zone" by the commissioners some 20 years ago. Case in point; at the Sandy Point intersection with East Lake Road, some 20 business are forced to close to make way for the big box pharmacies. Walgreens and CVS. That'll sure keep property values up. We bought our property where we did because of the residential nature. We all have dogs (and they do bark sometimes). This really has nothing to do with dogs; we love them. It has to do with the fact that we did not belive Mr. Gavron has the dogs best interest in mind. We believe he's looking to make huge bucks by continuing to pursue zone changes. And now, we have to spend time that could be spent with our families keeping an eye out to make sure we don't get a KFC or something of that nature. By the way, have you noticed that Mr. Gavron didn't put a dog facility IN HIS BACKYARD?! I wonder why that is. Instead, he's putting in someone else' backyard. And he lied about us on the local news and to the commissioners. And since everyone thinks we're "snooty", maybe you should know that Mr. Gavron lives in a home worth well over a million dollars. MUCH MUCH more that ours.

cujobuster wrote:

Dogs are the best friends that us people can have; why not let them be sociable when mom and dad are at work or people play? So long as the facility is clean, has adequate space for exercise and the caretakers are loving people there is nothing wrong with it. I own and operate a grooming salon and am looking forward to finding a suitable location in the future to establish a doggie day care center - at my current location, I would not feel comfortable with more than 4 dogs due to the facility size. I also have 18 adult dogs and puppies at home - pups will find new families, and the house is utter mayhem at times, but there is a lot of love there...people are stupid; our fur babies give more love during their short lives than human beings know how to do. FIDO, you sound like you live in a restricted subdivision and love it; good luck to you. I applaud the Gavrons and wish their furry friends the best in life.