Forced to rehome its kennel, Priceless Pets fetches permit for new Costa Mesa site
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Costa Mesa pet adoption provider Priceless Pets has been searching for a facility to house and care for strays brought in by animal control officers ever since it took over as the city’s veterinary and shelter provider last year.
And if all goes well, the nonprofit may have found a home on an industrially zoned lot on the south end of the city, after planning commissioners Monday approved a permit for a 6,480-square-foot space at 126 E. 16th Street.
But the fortuitousness of the situation may be up to a handful of neighbors, including nearby mobile home park residents and an adjacent business operator who are concerned about the potential for loud barking, odor and parking problems on the .42-acre lot.
Ensuring Priceless Pets had a brick-and-mortar site in Costa Mesa was one stipulation spelled out by city officials in a $480,000-per-year, five-year contract approved in April 2024 with the Chino Hills-based no-kill pet rescue.
But securing a site that can house up to 50 impounded animals at a time and accommodate an outdoor play area for dogs has proven to be a bit of an obstacle course for the nonprofit organization, according to Executive Director Lisa Price.
“It has been an incredible challenge in your city to put this round peg in a square hole,” Price told city planners Monday. “We’ve been operating in our tiny 2,000-square-foot building on Newport Boulevard, and we are tight over there and still operating our adoption center, so we are well overdue for a bigger facility.”
After a long search that predated the actual signing of the contract by more than a year, Price found a potential solution in a 6,248-square-foot commercial building in the city’s Mesa Verde neighborhood.
The group ponied up the $7,500 application fee for a conditional use permit and was approved by the Costa Mesa Planning Commission last November. But a rehoming plan was ultimately necessary, as the relationship with the landlord didn’t work out, Price explained Monday.
The Costa Mesa City Council Tuesday approved a five-year $480,000 annual contact with the nonprofit Priceless Pets, requiring the group to lease a local facility and open to the public.
“[By the time] I got the permit, I was already over the extended time they were allowing,” she said of the property owners, who lived abroad. “There were attorneys involved in trying to keep the lease active but [the owners] declined. We felt like, you know what, this isn’t meant to be, so we just moved on.”
Previously used for auto repairs, the 16th Street property seemed ideal for housing the intake activities of Costa Mesa’s animal control services, along with ancillary veterinary services, pet surrenders and reunions with owners.
A rolling door in the building will allow officers to enter the building in vehicles and securely unload rescued animals, while an open area near the metal building would provide enough space for two dogs at a time to get needed exercise during their temporary stays at the facility.
To minimize the effects of barking, Priceless Pets plans to install soundproofing inside the walls of the kennel.
But the plan doesn’t sit well with Mathew Carver, who runs the mental health treatment center Barn Life Recovery in a building that shares a wall with the would-be kenneling facility.
“We do meditation — it’s sort of a sanctuary,” Carver said. “So the sound, of course, is a big issue for me. I have no idea what 50 dogs inside a metal building sounds like.”
Residents of nearby Sea Breeze Villa mobile home park share similar concerns. Steve Schwimer, who Monday spoke on behalf of the park’s residents, said the city should have assessed noise levels to see if they complied with a local sound ordinance.
“No evidence shows the kennel can meet the city’s own noise limits,” Schwimer said. “[And] 60 families and the Ramada Hotel and the recovery center that shares this block will live with the consequences.”
Price assured the layout was designed to reduce habits that inspire barking among kenneled dogs and said her team would work to mitigate noise both inside the facility, which she said is not likely to reach its maximum capacity, and in the play yard.
Commissioners echoed the concerns about noise but said they would lean on the permit’s conditions of approval to ensure a smooth transition.
“For the neighbors and Sea Breeze across the street, hold them accountable,” Commissioner Angely Andrade Vallarta said to those who made public comments on the proposal. “We have a code enforcement department, so should there be an issue, and it becomes too loud, or it becomes a deterrent to the services you’re providing right next door, it’s a conversation to be had.”
