Changes made to controversial kennel bill

WICOMICO CO., Md. – Dog kennel owners in Wicomico County are breathing a sigh of relief after a bill some call unrealistic was changed Tuesday.

Kennel owners were going to be forced to ensure their dog runs were located no less than 1,000 feet from an existing home, but at Tuesday’s County Council meeting, officials voted to change that.

“The primary amendments for the kennel bill, one was to reduce the 1,000 foot restriction to a 500 foot restriction which we think is a much more fair option and the second thing was to make sure it was not measured from the property line, but from the building line which is also very important to the kennel owners,” said Wicomico County Council President John T. Cannon.

The changes come after the County Executive vetoed the previous bill.

Overall, Cannon said he is happy with how the meeting turned out.

“I thought the meeting went very well,” he said, “it was something unprecedented and difficult to maneuver through, but I think we did an excellent job with the help of our attorney and our staff.”

During the meeting, a few County Council members admitted they made a mistake in passing the previous version of the bill.

“This is a part of the process, so there are times where we’re going to agree, we’re not going to agree,” said Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano, “but we have a County Executive and we have a County Executive for a good reason because we have that check and balance. It came over to me, we obviously saw that they were an issue, we were able to put it back over in Council Chambers and it looks like there’s been some resolution.”

Giordano will have 21 days to approve or veto the bill, but said this time, she will not be vetoing it.

“I am happy that we were able to make some changes and I think it will be a lot better for our kennel owners now and a lot more feasible, plus we have people that are grandfathered in, so I think that that’s good,” said Giordano.

The County Council will revisit the ordinance a year from now to see if the legislation is working for kennel owners.