The Pinal County Board of Supervisors hit the “paws” button Wednesday on commercial dog breeding kennel permits in Thunderbird Farms. 

Supervisors voted 4-1 to return special use permit requests from Abbott’s German Shepherds to the Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission, citing new stipulations that had not been approved by the commission.  

The zoning board will review the issue again during a June 19 meeting. The board of supervisors will hear the requests again July 2.  

What’s in the request 

Abbott’s German Shepherds bills itself as “a family-owned and ran licensed kennel,” which operates at two locations in Thunderbird Farms and Hidden Valley: one on Jean Drive and another location on Val Vista Road. It has been in operation since 1994. 

At least one of the properties maintains an 1,800-square-foot kennel to accommodate seven dogs, as well as a dog run.  

One of the primary issues supervisors found with the request was operating the commercial business on a 3-plus acre parcel that is otherwise zoned as a suburban ranch. Current code allows the landowner in these zoned areas to construct a single-family home on the property while engaging in commercial agricultural uses, including grazing and raising livestock. 

However, the zoning code says commercial kennels need at least 5 acres to operate in suburban ranch zones.  

Senior Planner Patrick Zaia-Roberts said the county’s development staff received nine support letters and 37 letters in opposition to the kennel, citing increased noise, non-adherence to local covenants, conditions and restrictions, as well as fear of diminished property values.  

Accusations from almost all sides  

This marked the second continuance for the kennel project in a board meeting. A May 7 continuance had been issued to address some of the neighbors’ concerns. However, supervisors were still unsure how to act on the issue, including Rich Vitiello, the Republican who lives in and represents Maricopa.  

Vitiello told landowner Ashell Abbott that he took issue with “smokescreens” in the applications, including a 2018 noncommercial kennel application, 15 animal-control complaints and his own experiences driving past the kennel and witnessing “dogs [running] up and down, barking at all times,” he said. 

Supervisor Mike Goodman brought up the neighbors’ complaints that Abbott had been “operating illegally” for years, while Chairman Stephen Miller expressed concern that the list of stipulations for approving the kennel had changed since passing the Planning and Zoning Commission.  

Zaia-Roberts confirmed the county’s legal team altered the stipulations after a March 20 meeting.  

The original request cited 12 stipulations like limiting breeding operations to those listed in the application and requiring a dust registration permit. Both of those stipulations were removed in the paperwork submitted to the board of supervisors.  

“That kind of bothers me,” Miller said. “I mean, the stipulations are the big deal, and I don’t know how they would have felt about these new stipulations … I don’t know if that’s ticky-tacky, but it almost seems like that should have gone back to P and Z with that many stipulation changes.” 

Supervisor Jeff Serdy said he was “getting emails as we speak in real time regarding this.” 

Director Audra Michael of Pinal County Animal Care and Control said her agency’s inspections showed Abbott was “doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” 

But three local residents who traveled to Florence Wednesday spoke against the special use permit, again citing noise, injuries their own pets sustained from escaped German Shepherds and claims the applicants did not attempt to “reach out and discuss any aspect” of the permit.