Ruling near

for dog owner

Woman seeks change to code restrictions

August 29, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

WASILLA - A woman contesting city code and neighborhood covenants in order to keep her pack of shelties is awaiting a decision on her appeal in the case, which has resulted in two previous rejections.

Deborah Luper, 46, had a three-hour appeal hearing in Wasilla City Hall on Aug. 21. She continues to keep at least six times the number of dogs allowed in her home, which is inside the city limits. Wasilla code allows no more than three adult dogs in a residence without a kennel license.

Luper's home on less than an acre on East Eden Court is within an area where covenants forbid dog kennels. Luper and the dogs moved into the home in December 2004.

Luper's 2005 application for a kennel license was rejected by the city planning commission, and she didn't appeal the decision within the time constraints set by city code. She applied again this year, the application was denied, and she appealed.

The city hired Robert Hall as a hearing officer, sent notices to concerned parties, took written statements and scheduled an Aug. 15 hearing. Kenneth Jacobus, Luper's attorney, then requested a postponement.

Aug. 21 was the latest possible date for the city to hold the appeal hearing without having to go through the process all over again. As a hearing officer, he could confirm, deny or amend the decision to deny Luper a kennel license, Hall said.

Hall said Sandra Garley, as city planner, would be allowed to speak for 10 minutes, &#8220the appellant” would be allowed to speak for 10 minutes, and each concerned neighbor would be allotted five minutes.

During her allotted time, Garley said Wasilla makes no distinction between a commercial or a hobby kennel because the impact on the neighbors is nearly the same. Luper never indicated how many dogs she owned in either application, Garley said, but at a June 13 public hearing, Jacobus said Luper would accept 20 dogs as the upper limit.

Garley said that, at the same hearing, Luper said Wasilla codes did not match Anchorage codes, and that, at a Palmer District Court hearing in January, Luper said she would work with the city to bring its codes more in line with Anchorage codes.

&#8220To date, she has not done so,” Garley said.

At the same hearing, Luper said she considered a privacy fence as early as December 2004, but never built one, Garley said. The dogs do get out, according to testimony, she said, and were picked up by animal control in June.

Jacobus said he wanted Hall to inspect Luper's home. Hall had been given only the negative side of the issue, which was not true, he said. Luper's home is zoned &#8220rural residential,” which allows kennels with a use permit, he said, and neighborhood covenants ban only commercial kennels.

&#8220Grant a use permit with appropriate conditions,” Jacobus said. &#8220The whole idea of a use permit is to clarify under what conditions it should be allowed, not to arbitrarily deny it. Continue this hearing until neighbors can work it out.”

Luper said she blamed her Realtor for not doing due diligence before she bought her house. She would have met her neighbors and talked with them about her dogs, but was told they were sexual perverts and she shouldn't go to their house, Luper said.

In a packet of information Jacobus offered at the beginning of the hearing were five color pages of pictures of neighbors' houses to show there should be no fear that her dogs would decrease property values, Luper said.

&#8220The photos show that's not possible,” she said.

There is no set time for a hearing officer to return with a decision, according to Kristie Smithers, city clerk. But the general timeline is 10 days to two weeks, she said.

Hall said if Luper did not like his decision, she still would have a right to appeal directly to the Alaska Supreme Court.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.