Environmental Review of Kennel Ordered : Simi Valley: The council asks for a report in 90 days on the noise, odor and other impacts of the boarding venture run by a couple at their home.

The Simi Valley City Council on Monday ordered an environmental review before voting on whether a Simi Valley couple can continue to operate the dog kennel and rescue operation they have run for the past 10 years.

Assistant Planner Dave Gilbert said staff members will report back to the council within 90 days on the noise, odor and other impacts of the kennel run by Tom and Dina Dunn out of their Barnard Street home.

Before ordering the environmental review, council members debated whether the kennel would be considered a commercial enterprise, since the Dunns sell one litter a year, charge to board dogs and run an ad in the Yellow Pages.

The couple was forced to apply for a special use permit for the kennel when a neighbor complained to the city in April.

Tina Dunn said she and her husband are in a dispute with the neighbor over their respective property boundaries, and that triggered the complaint.

The Planning Commission voted 3 to 1, with one member absent, not to grant the permit Nov. 4, mainly because it considered the kennel operation commercial because the couple occasionally made money from its operation.

But in bringing the appeal to the City Council, Council Members Bill Davis and Judy Mikels did not agree.

“I just didn’t feel that this was a commercial use, from my standards,” Mikels said before the meeting.

“Yes, there may be some income. But I don’t know if you would call it profitable.”

Davis agreed. “This is not a commercial venture, it’s a labor of love,” he said before the meeting.

But council members said Monday that the Dunns may not labor for profit.

Even if the permit they are seeking is granted, the couple may not make a profit by boarding dogs, the council said, although they may sell the dogs they breed.

Included in the report given the council before Monday’s meetings were letters from Kathy Jenks, director of the county’s Animal Regulation Department, and other animal advocates.

In her letter, Jenks said the Dunns have often made their kennel available to the county when it needed to board animals displaced by fire, floods or hazardous material spills.

For her part, Tina Dunn said her kennel is really a chance for her and her husband to rescue unwanted Alaskan malamutes, which they specialize in, and sell about a litter a year.

“What we do benefits the breed that we’re in and the people in this community,” she said.

“I feel that we have a 10-year track record in doing this and I think we should be judged on our record. We’ve rescued a lot of dogs and we’ve done a lot of good for the community.”