Kennebunk kennel under fire from neighbors over barking dogs

KENNEBUNK, Maine — The new owner of a longtime local dog day care is working to address noise complaints from neighbors and bring her business into compliance with the town.

Audra Simpson said the Red Barn Inn at 421 Alfred Road had been operating at its current capacity of around 100 dogs per day for quite some time when she bought the business from its previous owners last March. Complaints about barking dogs from her neighbors, however, led town officials to a discovery she is now trying to address through the local site plan review process.

According to town engineer Chris Osterrieder, code enforcement officials who responded to the complaints learned from the 2009 site plan approval for the business that only 15 dogs are allowed at the kennel at one time.

Simpson is now seeking to amend that approval so that she can be permitted to care for 80 dogs at one time at the Red Barn Inn. She also is seeking to erect a vinyl fence alongside a current chain-link one, so that dogs will not be able to see – and therefore be provoked into barking – the cats, deer and other animals that wander within sight of where they run and play.

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Kennebunk dog day care before Site Plan Review Board

Simpson’s attorney, Kristen Collins, appeared before the town’s Site Plan Review Board with these two proposals, along with requests for waivers, during a meeting on Jan. 18.

That night, board members said they needed more updated details about parking and other aspects of the property, so that they could deem Simpson’s application complete before they consider her requested amendments involving the number of dogs and the new fence. Simpson and her attorney are gathering that information and will be submitting it the town ahead of their next appearance before the board on Thursday, Feb. 15.

That evening, the board will discuss Simpson’s application further and may officially take its next step of scheduling either a site visit or a public hearing for the proposed amendments.

If the review board’s meeting in January is any indication, that upcoming public hearing should be well attended. While no one from the public spoke at the podium during the Jan. 18 meeting, the room was packed with people representing both the support Simpson has for her business and the complaints the town has received.

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Noise complaints filed with Kennebunk Town Hall

In an email on Jan. 30, Osterrieder said most of the noise complaints that the town has received has come from the owners of abutting properties. He added that the complaints started to occur over the past year and a half.

“That could be partly due to the ease of the online complaint reporting system the town instituted in 2021,” Osterrieder said.

The town provided a sampling of the complaints that have been made. Each complaint alleged barking dogs are consistently disrupting the neighborhood. A few complaint-filers urged the town to enforce the local noise ordinance.

Jeff McCorkle, of Westwoods Road, said he moved within 650 feet of the Red Barn Inn three years ago, knowing he was purchasing a home next to a dog kennel. He said the noise from the site had been tolerable for a time but is no longer.

"Over the past couple of years, the barking has increased, with prolonged lengths of barking, louder barking, increased night barking, and staff can be heard yelling at the dogs through the day and night," McCorkle wrote in his complaint filed on Nov. 4, 2022.

Another Westwoods Road resident, Philip Pitcock, filed a complaint on Aug. 23, 2023, alleging that disruptive noise from the business is audible between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

"I am unable to operate my consulting practice from my home, due to this nuisance," Pitcock said. "How my spouse is able to work through this cacophony is beyond me."

According to Osterrieder, noise issues do not fall within the town’s Site Plan Review Board’s purview and are not part of any zoning performance standards.

Regarding the 2009 approval limiting the business to 15 dogs, however, town officials are trying to understand the “relationship of the noise to the number of dogs” while Simpson works to have her business come into compliance, he said.

“Whether it be through operational controls, buffering or facility changes, the issue of noise could be remediated based on how the owner navigates the site plan review process,” Osterrieder said. “Should the noise not be mitigated as part of the site plan review process, the town would need to evaluate if there is an ordinance violation, and then, if appropriate, pursue remedies.”

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Red Barn Inn owner wants to be a good neighbor

Simpson said she bought the kennel last year because she had boarded her own dog, Tucker, there many times and loved the property.

“When I saw it go up for sale, I jumped at the opportunity to be the owner of this wonderful business,” she said. “Honestly, it can’t get much better than being surrounded by the most loving and selfless animals. I am so thankful to all of the parents who share their amazing pups with us.”

Simpson said she is voluntarily proposing to lower the number of dogs at her business to 85, even though “demand hasn’t changed.” She said she has hundreds of clients, most of whom live in Kennebunk but also others from such states as Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts.

She said her business meets the needs of anyone who wants to make sure their dogs receive care while they are away, or who wish for their dogs to have opportunities to play and socialize while they are at work or at an appointment or are handling an emergency.

“I am always available and there to help them and provide a safe and loving environment for their pups,” Simpson said.

Simpson noted that the town has not held in her any violation of a noise ordinance. As she seeks to amend the 2009 approval, she said she is concerned that the site plan review board will treat her business like it is a new one, “when I am operating the same as my predecessor did for X years.”

Simpson said she wants to be a good neighbor to those who surround the Red Barn Inn.

“I have made improvements to the kennel operation to be a better neighbor, but I feel like the goal of some is to shut down the business entirely,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunk kennel owner seeks to address complaints about barking dogs