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In early June, the township zoners voted 2-1 to granted a special exception to Jonas Esch, owner of Country Boy Kennel, to allow him to keep operating his business. The ruling took effect June 26.
From 25 to 50 residents are expected to attend the Providence Township supervisors' meeting at 7 tonight at the municipal building, 200 Mount Airy Road, to protest kennel operations during the public comment segment, according to Kelly Charles, a member of the citizens group Providence Against Cruel Kennels.
This will be the first time PACK members appeal to the supervisors, after pleading their case before the township zoners at hearings in April and May.
"We are going to the township and asking them to work with us to remedy what we perceive to be a health issue within the township and also something that without question diminishes the property value of all adjacent properties," PACK coordinator Barry Longenecker said.
PACK will ask the supervisors to overturn the zoning board's decision, Longenecker said. If the supervisors lack the power to overturn the decision, Longenecker said, PACK will suggest that the supervisors appeal it.
Supervisors chairman C. William Shaffer said they should be able to appeal the zoning board decision but that no appeals have been made in his four years on the board.
PACK members plan to cite what they call "paramount concerns," including health issues, inhumane treatment and past violations Esch has been cited for at his kennel at 170 Truce Road.
Esch could not be reached for comment Monday. His kennel was previously licensed by the state to house up to 500 dogs over a year's time. Its 2009 license is pending state approval.
Health concerns stem from the estimated 13 tons of dog manure Esch spreads each year on his farm, which is across the street from Providence Elementary School, Longenecker said.
"There is a fundamental, enormous difference in the manure that is created by the herbivore livestock that is traditionally raised in Lancaster County and carnivores," Longenecker said, citing E. coli, salmonella, hookworm and roundworm as among the pollutants found in dog feces.
Those pollutants, in turn, affect drinking water, said Charles.
"For drinking water to be safe, there can't be any higher than one count of coliform or E. coli" per 100 milliliters, Charles said.
She said that in a water sample taken downstream from Esch's farm, "the coliform count was 2,419.2 per 100 milliliters, and the E. coli count was 2,419.17."
Longenecker said he presented water statistics to the Solanco School District, which includes Providence Elementary School, but received little response.
Statistics on Esch's history of kennel operations also have gone largely ignored, Longenecker said.
Esch has been fined "six or seven times," Longenecker said, and has corrected his operations after each citation.
Esch's first citation came in 2004, when state officials found he had been running an unlicensed kennel for a year. Esch said during hearings that he did not realize he needed approval and and that he's been licensed by the state since the citation.
Esch applied for a special exception from the township in April under new state requirements to comply with municipal rules starting Oct. 9.
But Esch also has been cited for inhumane conditions, including dog feces in feeding stations and failure to vaccinate dogs for rabies. Those are the kinds of situations Longenecker said PACK hopes to regulate with the help of the township supervisors.
"We realize that kennels will be something that will be a part of probably most townships," Longenecker said. "We want to establish a humane operation … (including) mechanical services that would provide for humane conditions and a limit to the number of dogs that are permitted.
"We're not willing to put on our blinders and accept this," he said.
E-mail: khopkins@lnpnews.com
