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Furever Friends, Cats Unlimited Would Use Site
Mary Huffman has applied for a conditional use permit to put a cat shelter in a portion of a commercial building she and her husband Phil own at 2463 Beech Ave. in Buena Vista.
The building, formerly the location for her flower shop, currently houses an online auction business.
Long an advocate for providing care for stray cats and helping to control their population in the area, Mary Huffman has an established nonprofit, Furever Friends, that she has operated at other locations, though at times she has temporarily housed some cats at the subject property, according to agenda materials included with her application for a cat shelter.
Huffman is proposing to utilize 504 square feet in the back of the 1,944-square-foot building for the cat shelter. The property is located in the mixed business district within the Seminary Hill overlay district. Animal kennels are allowed with a conditional use permit.
The Planning Commission has recommended that a conditional use permit be issued with the condition that the maximum number of cats to be housed at the facility at any given time not exceed 30. Given the size of the kennel, this would meet the industry’s “best practices for cat shelters based on the square footage of the space,” according to the agenda materials.
Furever Friends and Cats Unlimited are organizations associated with the proposed shelter that, attest city staff, “provide an important service to the community and have demonstrated significant positive benefit over many years in controlling feral cat populations in humane ways.”
Huffman told Council that Huffman Auction Sales would continue to operate in the building. The cat shelter, which would not be open to the public, would take in stray cats by appointment only. Prospective owners of the cats would be screened through an application process and would have to agree in writing to have the cats spayed or neutered, Huffman said.
Cats Unlimited, she continued, has spayed or neutered 8,000 stray cats in the community through a trap, neuter/ spay and release program over a period of years. Rabies vaccinations are also provided for the cats. Huffman has long been involved in caring for stray cats at Glen Maury Park.
Council held a first reading Thursday, April 4, of a proposed ordinance to grant Huffman a conditional use permit for the cat shelter.
