Dog issues addressed at BZA meeting
Cathy May - Contributing Writer

Ripley County is going to the dogs. Three issues brought before the Ripley County Board of Zoning Appeals at their June 29, meeting dealt with dog kennels.

Francine M. Strzok-Heim applied for a special exception to operate a kennel at her home on South County Road 750 East in Dillsboro. Strzok-Heim has taken in 22 stray dogs and has had them neutered. She has 12 dogs in the house, eight in a dog run, and two in her yard. A complaint was filed because of the dogs barking and it came before the board.

Several neighbors supported Strzok-Heim and said the dogs were not a problem. Planning Director Tad Brinson went to the home on several occasions and never saw or heard a dog.

The Board voted to give Strzok-Heim the special exception with the following conditions: the noise level is maintained so barking is not constant; the number of dogs is not increased and as dogs die off, they are not replaced. Other conditions are that it is not run as a business, and the dogs can not be outside from 9:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m.

James Lovins, was also on the agenda for a special exception to operate a dog kennel at his home on East County Road 400 North in Milan. Lovins was recently appointed as the County Dog Warden. The matter was tabled because Lovins was on vacation and not able to attend.

The law suit against Ann Ramsbottom will be heard on July 12, in front of Judge James Funke in Jennings Superior Court. The board charged Ramsbottom with violating her special exception. The Board had Ramsbottom remove dog runs that were put in against the zoning code, but she later put the runs back up and was charged with the violation.

Also heard was a variance for Greg H. Suding. He needed to move the rear set back line from 35' to 20' to permit construction of a private garage at his home on Penntown Road in Sunman. Suding was not able to build the garage closer to his line because of the location of his septic system. The board approved his request.

All five members of the board were in attendance: Charles Rohlfing, Sue French, Sam Row, Dennis McKittrick and Roger Lang. Also attending to advise the board were Planning Director Tad Brinson and Attorney John Ertel.

The next meeting of the Ripley County Board of Zoning Appeals will be July 27 at 7:00 p.m. at the Commissioners Room in the Courthouse Annex in Versailles.