Friends of Newport Beach Animal Shelter feel pawsitive after approval by Planning Commission

Newport Beach is finally getting its first permanent animal shelter.

The Newport Beach Planning Commission this month approved a conditional use permit to start a new shelter on Riverside Drive. It will replace the existing residential kennel with a 1,565-square-foot, single-story shelter and a 755-square-foot kennel that can house up to 29 dogs.

It will also include four parking spaces in the front yard, new gates and fencing, adequate drainage and other improvements necessary.

It will be a no-kill shelter.

Staff said in a report that up until now, the city has never had a permanent public animal shelter. Services were largely contracted out to providers, including the Orange County Humane Society. City officials had authorized the use of an existing residential kennel at 20302 Riverside Drive, which Animal Control oversees.

With approvals, the operation will move nearby, to 20282 Riverside Drive.

“We’ve been running the shelter for five years and we lease the space. So what we would do is do the same operation at the new place. Any animal that we pick up in Animal Control or the city finds comes to the animal shelter,” Animal Control Supervisor Valerie Schomburg said. “We have dogs, cats, puppies, kittens. We bring in snakes, birds — all that stuff. Any animal that needs care.”

Schomburg said the department holds an animal for at least five to seven days to try to find its owner before placing it with a rescue organization.

She estimated about 60% of the animals brought into the shelter are dogs and most are returned to their owners. Numbers decreased this year because of more residents staying home with their pets due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Friends of Newport Beach Animal Shelter raised about $2.5 million in donations for a permanent shelter to cover the costs of land acquisition and construction. Jonathan Langford, president of the group, said starting the shelter has been a huge community effort and the organization was excited to have reached this point.

City staff said that once construction is completed, the site will be donated to the city by the Friends of Newport Beach Animal Shelter and will be operated by the city’s Animal Control services.

Residents following the project were largely in support of it, but several raised concerns about its location and pointed to issues of parking congestion, dog walkers and noise.

Jeffrey and Julie Schneidewind, who live directly behind the proposed shelter, said they understand the need for a shelter in Newport Beach as rescue animal owners, but said the potential for noise was a huge concern.

“I urge you to find a different location for your shelter,” Julie Schneidewind said. “This is essentially a residential neighborhood. I worry about the traffic, the noise, my property value.

“I’m just incredibly upset about this whole thing. I urge you to reconsider the placement of a shelter in the middle of a residential neighborhood.”

Others also raised concerns about transparency, arguing that they had received little notice of any public outreach or of the Planning Commission meeting this month.

The shelter will be required to operate from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and limit on-site employees to only three at one time. City staff said that Animal Control officers will also be encouraging those visiting to make an appointment.

“It’s a feel-good thing for all of us and I know that once this thing is built, every time we see dogs on the street [that] we’ll feel like we did something for those owners and those dogs,” Langford said. “That if something happens, they’ll be treated and taken care of at the new animal shelter.”

Nguyen writes for Times Community News.