The Animal Care Center of St. John is one step closer to building a new state-of-the-art facility in Coral Bay after the Coastal Zone Management Committee approved its major permit application in a move that the non-profit’s architect said is a dream come true.
The permit comes with 11 conditions, including a noise study, noise monitoring protocol, regular noise assessments, and a buffer of native vegetation around the dog run to address concerns about barking that were expressed at public hearings prior to Tuesday’s decision meeting.
However, the project has also garnered considerable support, with 500 people signing a petition in favor of the development when the public hearing to rezone the property from residential low density, or R-2, to business secondary/neighborhood, or B-2, was held in October 2020.
“It’s been a dream to have this happen and we’re looking forward to making it happen,” architect Michael Milne of Barefoot Design Group told the committee, which voted unanimously to approve the permit. “It’s a very much-needed facility.”
Milne has volunteered his expertise for many years to the center. “The new ACC project shall vastly improve conditions for the animals that receive care and shelter but also the staff that give so much time and love to their work. We need everyone to come together to make this community project a reality,” he said Wednesday in response to questions from the Source.
“This has been a long time coming. The ACC takes in hundreds of animals annually, spays/neuters, feeds, medicates and houses them until their forever family adopts them,” said Denise Walker, president of the center’s board. “We are proud to be a no-kill shelter,” she added.
The ACC currently operates out of a mobile home-type structure on rented land across from the Elaine I. Sprauve Library in Cruz Bay, with 10 dog kennels and about 25 cat cages, so the move to a new home will be welcome, said Walker.
“This has been the way since the 1980s. This wooden structure amazingly survived Irma and has been band-aided again and again. We need a new space to properly serve the community and its animal residents, and for staff and volunteers to work safely. We also need green space for dogs to be walked away from the bustle and traffic of downtown Cruz Bay,” she said. “In addition, many of our canine residents have suffered trauma, and require a calm and quiet location to heal. Our intention is to maintain the tiny Cruz Bay location as a satellite in addition to the Coral Bay location as long as funds allow.”
According to plans submitted to the Coastal Zone Management division of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, the two-story, 3,738-square-foot concrete building will feature 20 dog kennels and dog play area on the first floor as well as an exam room, main office, a lobby/reception area, conference room/classroom, food and medicine storage room, and a laundry room.
The second floor will feature 19 kennels for cats, a lobby, cat play area, exam room, bathrooms, a porch and a one-bedroom apartment for the shelter manager, who will live on site.
The property will also include 18 parking spaces constructed of permeable pavers (meaning rainwater may percolate through), a rooftop solar installation, three cisterns and a septic plant.
Operating hours will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the dogs will be let out to exercise during the day but would be completely enclosed from closing time until the morning when the shelter opens, the ACC has said.
There was little discussion about the project by committee members Tuesday because public hearings have already been held and it was a decision meeting, but Milne stressed that it will employ the latest in noise reduction technology, including acoustic blankets on the walls that are designed to absorb and block unwanted noise. It also will not impact a gut that runs along the side of the property, he said.
The ACC purchased the 2.3 acre property for the new shelter for $267,500 in 2017 from the Gaston Servant Trust, according to the deed that was included with the CZM permit application. The money reportedly was left as an endowment by a woman who lived on the island and had a love for animals. The land is located near Pickles in Coral Bay, on Plot No. 14 Remainder in Estate Carolina, with the nearest residence some 200 feet away, according to information presented at Tuesday’s meeting.
With the CZM permit approved, the ACC will now proceed with construction drawings and specifications to submit for a Building Permit, said Walker. The documents “will take a few months to create, so we could potentially break ground as early as next year. We have fundraisers scheduled for next month, as well as our Annual Winter Gala on Saturday, Feb. 8, that will help us, over time, raise the funds to see this project to its completion,” she said.
Next month’s fundraiser — a Fall Mutt Mixer — will take place on St. John at The Refinery (located in the old La Tapa location) on Friday, Oct. 11 from 5-8 p.m. to raise awareness and funds for the upcoming mass Spay/Neuter Event that will take place Nov. 8 to 11, when the nonprofit aims to serve some 300 animals, including from the feral cat population, as well as pets from the local community, free of charge, said Walker.“However, donations received in excess of our Spay/Neuter fundraising budget will be rolled into the new building fund,” she added.
For those unable to attend the fundraisers, or who want to do more, the ACC also welcomes monetary donations via cash, credit card and checks made out to Animal Care Center, and is grateful for donations of items through its Amazon wish list, with ideas listed on the ACC’s Facebook page.
Also not to be overlooked is the value of donating time to the center, which could not operate without its faithful volunteers “who clock countless hours walking dogs, cleaning cat cages and all the rest that goes into keeping the shelter running. We are always looking for fosters. We could not do what we do without the adopters,” said Walker.
“Finally, and I cannot stress this enough, spreading awareness of the importance of spaying and neutering pets is the most important, humane solution to the animal overpopulation problem in the Virgin Islands,” she said.
To learn more, visit the ACC’s Facebook page and its website, call 340-774-1625 or email info@stjacc.org.
Also up for consideration at Tuesday’s meeting was an application by Liberty Mobile USVI to construct a 80-foot monopole tower on government land in Coral Bay that would facilitate communications among first responders during disasters and emergencies. However, the decision was tabled for 30 days after CZM staff requested more time to review new information they received about the proposal.
Editor’s Note: Liberty Mobile USVI is applying for an 80-foot monopole tower. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that it was 45 feet.
