🔒Commercial kennel, dog-training facility proposed in Bristol

A proposal to convert a vacant industrial building to a dog training and boarding facility was presented Monday to the Bristol Zoning Commission. The commission opened a public hearing Monday evening on the application, which seeks a special permit to operate the commercial kennel at 135 Cross St. The applicant is Jon Rondeau of Burlington, owner of 135 Cross St. LLC, which is based in Newington. He acquired the 17,792-square-foot, one-story commercial/industrial building and 1-acre property in August 2019 for $525,000 from United Bank Commercial Properties Inc. The building formerly was occupied by Advanced Printing Services. It is located in a commercial-industrial area next to Ray Jurgen, a vehicle equipment supplier. Rondeau told the commission that his goal is to establish a business at 135 Cross St. called Elite Pawformance. The facility would offer training for service dogs who assist people with everyday tasks, training for “dog sports” such as an agility course, and a kennel for boarding up to 40 dogs while their owners are away, he said. He introduced Pamela O'Day of Avon, who has been a dog trainer for competition, obedience and agility for 31 years and will work in the facility. All of the services and agility training will be done inside the renovated building, Rondeau said. The renovations will include developing “a mock kitchen, a mock living room, a mock bedroom” to train the service dogs. The building has two sections, including a rear section with 20-foot walls and 10,000 square feet of space. Rondeau said that rear space will house the dog sports’ training courses. The commission chose to continue the public hearing to its next meeting on Oct. 20, in order to allow the applicant to provide additional information about the renovation of the building and to answer questions about how the dogs might use the land surrounding the building.