Tilton Zoning Board to hear about dogs and chickens

TILTON — Brittany Maia would like to open her Chic Dog Hotel at 504 Laconia Road, and her request for a variance goes before the Tilton Zoning Board of Adjustment tonight.

Dogs are not the only animals on the agenda, however; the ZBA also will continue discussions on the requests of two homeowners for special exceptions to allow them to keep chickens on their property.

The meeting opens at 6 p.m.

Maia currently operates a Chic Dog Hotel on Route 106 in Gilmanton and, in her application, she notes that it is not a traditional kennel.

“Unlike traditional outdoor chain link fenced kennels, the facility houses separate rooms, divided by sheetrock, so that the dogs are in a more homelike setting,” she writes. “Accordingly, dogs are in a more controlled environment and endless barking is not tolerated, as it detracts from the overall functioning of the dog hotel.”

A variance is required because Tilton’s zoning ordinance does not allow kennels in the Medium Residential District.

The Chic Dog Hotel would provide overnight and vacation care for dogs, along with grooming and obedience training. Maia said the property would be renovated to appear as a professional business, “yet with the charm of a farm-like country setting.”

The other cases involve the keeping of chickens, something that is allowed in the Medium Residential District by special exception. Prompted by complaints by neighbors, the two applications have been continued from earlier meetings.

Jonathan Matteau of 21 Mountain View Drive is looking to continue keeping chickens in his existing chicken coops.

Aimee Amirault of 91 Winter Street wants to keep chickens in a new, custom-built coop that she put on the property.

In her application, Amirault said there would no more than four chickens that are being raised as egg-layers. They would be kept in “a beautiful, hand-built coop designed to comfortably sleep up to 8 full grown chickens … which also has an enclosed run directly beneath the coop.” The coop “has a real glass window, a shingled roof, non-weathering materials, and is painted grey with white trim, and we feel and are confident that it will not reduce property values.”

Amirault also notes that there will be no roosters, “so there will not be any noise or nuisance issues. Our chickens are quiet, with the occasional soft ‘clucking’ sound which is often a sound made upon laying an egg.”

The two applications to keep chickens will largely hinge on their proximity to the property line and the potential nuisance factor.