90 Day Trial Summary

Meeting Summary 
 
Project: PLH20-0070 Dogtopia Use Permit Extension 
 
Purpose: 90-day trial neighbor evaluation 
 
Date: June 7, 2021 
 
City Planner: Zachary Werdean, City Planner, City of Chandler 
 
On 6/7/2021, two neighbors from the Southshore neighborhood whose homes are the closest to 
Dogtopia’s outdoor dog run met to discuss the use permit extension with the Planning Division. The 
use permit extension is to continue to allow an outdoor dog run at Dogtopia, located at 4901 S 
Arizona Avenue, Suite 7. To fully understand the compatibility with the neighbors, Dogtopia was 
granted a 90-day trial to test out the compatibility of their use with the neighbors. The trial ran from 
March 8th to June 6th. After the trial, neighborhood input was sought after to see how the use was 
perceived.  
 
Many items were discussed during the meeting with the Southshore neighbors: 
 
• 
The impact of the dogs barking and the videos of incidents? The neighbors said there were 
good days and bad days. Sometimes when the dogs bark, it disrupts the neighbors who are 
working from home and causes other dogs to bark within the neighborhood.  
 
• 
Other neighbors within the neighborhood and their involvement? Neighbors were not being 
vocal because of cultural differences and they thought they had no chance to make a change 
in the use and how they operate. The two neighbors felt the same way, but due to living 
close to the dog run, felt they needed to speak up to the best of their ability.  
 
• 
Compatibility with the school? School is back in session at BASIS (nextdoor to Dogtopia) and 
the commercial center is a constant noise polluter that affects the neighborhood. The 
neighbors prefer the school noise over the dog noise, as dogs have a sharp loud bark and 
kids playing on the playground act more as a white noise.  
 
• 
What the neighbor’s expectations were going forward? The neighbors thought Dogtopia has 
been better the last two weeks. Worried it was likely due to pressure from the citizens and 
the city and it may pick up after the use permit is approved. Hesitant to allow Dogtopia to 
expand their use, especially due to COVID affecting how businesses and people operated. 
They were asked what their expectations were going forward, the following conditions were 
discussed.  
 
The two neighbors agreed the use permit should be extended if the following conditions are met:

• 
Outdoor dog run timeframes: Monday – Friday 9:00AM to 11:00AM and 3:00PM to 5:00PM 
(allow a 30-minute expansion for each time frame window to allow more time to change out 
dogs in the dog run) 
• 
Number of dogs: Approximately 39 small breed dogs or 30 large breed dogs (keep the same 
as the original Use Permit, worried about more dogs creating more noise) 
• 
Number of staff: 1 staff member for every 20 dogs (keep the same as the original Use 
Permit, to help guide the dogs inside if issues occur) 
• 
1-year time stipulation (keep the same as the original Use Permit) 
 
Going forward after the year is complete, they are okay with a 3-year time stipulation if the next year 
goes well. Any additional changes in the future will have to do another 1-year time stipulation to 
ensure compatibility with the neighbors.