A nonprofit leader, who proposed to open a doggie day care center in a downtown residential neighborhood, has been forced to fetch a new location for the business.

John Buck, the CEO of a nonprofit organization that sought to open up a business where people could drop off their dogs for the day while away at work, has decided not to pursue the venture at the 212 I St. site he had originally planned, next to the train tracks.

He is looking elsewhere in Davis, however.

The company would have been staffed by adults with mental illness, whom Buck works with regularly at Turning Point Community Programs — his mental health support organization. The idea is that the business would be therapeutic for the staff, while providing a service to Davis residents who need someone to look after their dog for a full day or just a few hours.

But after working with city planners to obtain a conditional use permit to open up the business in an “industrial research” zone downtown — and after discussions with the neighbors surrounding the property in question, who voiced several concerns about the business opening up in their neighborhood — Buck has decided against the I Street site.

“You really do need to have, in Davis, the neighborhood on your side generally speaking if you’re outside of the zoning restrictions,” Buck said Tuesday. “But the zoning itself was the biggest problem, industrial research was too much of a stretch for a doggie day care.”

Residents were worried about an increase in traffic on I Street, the potential noise from barking dogs in the back yard where they would be let out to play and the possible proliferation of dog hair and odors throughout the neighborhood.

Jamie Morton, a nearby resident who lives on J Street downtown, said many of the residents around the I Street site are relieved that the business isn’t moving in.

“I don’t believe it should to be in a residential neighborhood,” Morton said Wednesday. “Not only mine, but any in Davis. I don’t think that’s the best place for it or the safest place.

“I think the idea of the business is a good one, just in the right location. I hope they have success opening it up somewhere else.”

Buck has begun looking for a new location in the city, with a recommendation from city planners to ferret out property zoned for “commercial service,” but the search so far hasn’t been easy.

“It took me a while to finally throw in the towel and say it’s not worth the kind of effort we’d have to put in that property,” Buck said. “So we located a local real estate guy to look for a more ‘commercial (service)’ place.”

However, Buck said the biggest barrier is making the numbers pencil out for commercial-service properties.

“The rent would exceed the amount of revenue we’d get from the size of doggie day care we’re looking at,” Buck said.

Sarah Worley, the city’s economic development coordinator, said there are several reasons why business owners may run into higher costs when opening up a business in a commercial-service zone.

“Some factors that could have a bearing on price could be location and supply/demand,” Worley said in an email. “Commercial-service-zoned areas are more centrally located in the community and we do not have a lot of commercial-service-zoned properties in general and most are occupied by existing uses.”

Eric Lee, the city’s assistant planner, said the majority of the commercial-service zone falls along Fifth Street and other locations “scattered around in the city.”

Other permitted uses under commercial service include automotive and equipment repair, custom manufacturing and some convenience retail uses, Lee added.

With all of the hurdles he and his potential business have faced, Buck said he has considered trying the doggie day care in neighboring cities like Woodland, but that he really wants to serve Davis. Jill Estroff, who works with Buck at TPCP, also remains hopeful that they can figure something out.

“We are exploring other locations and partnerships and have not given up on this great idea,” she said.

As for the house where Buck and TPCP had hoped to open up the business on I Street, they plan to renovate it and use it for the nonprofit’s administrative and financial services office to support its other programs in Yolo County.

— Reach Tom Sakash at [email protected] or (530) 747-8057. Follow him on Twitter @TomSakash.

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