PAWTUCKET – For back-to-back years, says Luis Rosado, the business he’s invested his life into has been in limbo and under threat, all because a couple of neighbors constantly complain and a local councilman gives them a platform.
Harmony Dog Training, at 65 Patterson Ave., abuts a residential neighborhood. The City Council’s Board of License Commissioners approved a license for the facility back in the spring of 2024, but when it came up for renewal last year, a vote kept being put off until it was eventually approved again.
Now, says Rosado, District 5 Councilor Clovis Gregor is again offering him radio silence and no answers on when his latest renewal request will be approved, repeatedly delaying action for a second year.
Those in leadership seem to be doing everything in their power to avoid a lawsuit, said Rosado, while also doing nothing to put this issue to rest once and for all.
“I get no response from anyone,” he said, except some communication from Mayor Donald Grebien.
Narratives in police reports are often misleading, contradictory, and targeting only of him, even as much greater nuisances in the neighborhood are completely ignored, Rosado told The Local Insider.
There’s a lot of talk now that the city should never have granted the license in the first place based on existing rules, he said, but there’s no way to reverse this now.
The license was originally approved based on the city’s zoning use table stating that for a property on the line as both commercial and residential, the larger portion wins out, and the much bigger portion of this property is commercial, meaning the dog boarding use was allowed by right.
The crux of the issue, however, was discovered well after the approval, and it pertains to a statement within the separate kennel licensing ordinance, not the zoning regulations, mandating 200 feet between a pet care or boarding operation and a residential property line.
That key restriction/radius prohibition was missed, and whose fault it is remains up for debate.
Where the city is in a real pickle, said Rosado, is that existing doggie daycare licenses elsewhere could also come under fire. What happens, he said, when new apartments come online near Friends of Toto on Esten Avenue, where it’s his understanding that permits were recently pulled.
“Does that mean he (Gregor) pledges war on all doggie daycares?” he said.
Friends of Toto often refer dogs to him, he said.
“What we offer here is different from any doggie daycares around,” he said, explaining that it’s much smaller than others, and he’s “not a corporate guy who’s fixated on numbers.” He’s content, he said, staying small and taking in dogs that don’t necessarily perform well at a different location, but still need to have the opportunity to make friends with other dogs and get the natural fulfillment that they need.
He’s been in this industry for nearly 20 years, said Rosado, stopping as a vet tech in 2019 when he started in this new venture.
Rosado said he’s gone above and beyond to create the business he has, traveling the world to study effective operations and to find what’s most beneficial for customers and animals.
Two neighbors, he said, continue their nonstop complaining no matter what he does. He said there’s even a report mentioning the loudness of his motorcycle, when there are others in the neighborhood with much louder motorcycles and other vehicles.
Rosado said neighbors have some valid concerns, but they’re clearly not interested in finding solutions.
“The only solution they’re focused on is me leaving,” he said.
Why, he asked, are those neighbors seemingly not concerned when others in the neighborhood are “ripping up the road” with race cars, including at a garage used for actual Nascar vehicles.
A year ago this month, neighbors said the barking situation at Harmony had improved, but they were still dealing with the smells from urine and feces. The issues continue to be primarily outdoors during good weather.
Reached Tuesday, Gregor said he can’t really comment on the matter because the city has a show-cause hearing planned. He referred to various sections of the city’s regulations, including the part about the 200-foot limit.
Last year, the councilman’s questioned the city’s approval of the facility so close to a residential zone, and said it was no surprise, and not Rosado’s fault, that there ended up being friction between his business and neighbors.
Council President Terry Mercer said this week that he conferred with Gregor and expects there to be a formal hearing during the first Board of License Commissioners meeting of September.
“Councilor Gregor has made a motion for us to convene a formal hearing for the first meeting in September. Hopefully at that time through that process we can come to some sort of resolution or a path forward.”
As for Rosado, he says even though the future of his company is being challenged, he continues to complete upgrades to the property, both for functionality and beautification, and has done everything asked of him and more.
