WOBURN - Before the four-legged animals can play there, some of the two-legged variety first want to walk the site of a proposed exercise yard for dogs off Salem Street.

Ward 5 Alderman Darlene Mercer-Bruen invited her colleagues and anyone from the audience at this week's City Council meeting to join her and the Planning Board during a site walk at 6:15 p.m. prior to the board's meeting on Tuesday, April 25.

"I encourage all of you to check it out," said Mercer-Bruen, whose district includes the property where the dog exercise facility will be located.

Winchester resident David Taylor wants to bring about 30 dogs per day - six animals in five different shifts - to the exercise yard, where each dog will be allowed to roam for about an hour.

Several potential issues were raised, including Taylor's claim that the dogs under his care will not bark.

"I don't know how anyone can think 30 dogs aren't going to bark," said Felton Street resident Janet Joyce, one of about a half-dozen people from the audience who spoke during the public hearing portion of the meeting.

The council eventually sent the petition to its Special Permits Committee for review and continued the hearing to its meeting on May 2, after the site visit and presumably after the Planning Board issues a recommendation on Taylor's proposal.

In the interim, Alderman at-large Joanna Gonsalves asked City Clerk William Campbell to pull a special permit granted last year for a dog day care facility on Gill Street, so the council can review the conditions that were imposed on that petition.

Also, Gonsalves suggested the council send a letter to Joseph LeMay, regional director of the Environmental Protection Agency, requesting input on whether the dog exercise facility would hamper cleanup efforts in the nearby Aberjona River area, and whether canine or human inhabitants of the dog care would be potentially exposed to contamination in the area.

Dog exercise

Taylor said he has operated a dog-walking business with clients in Woburn and Winchester for about 11 years in the Middlesex Fells area, and has been seeking a more permanent facility, which will be open only from 9 a.m. to 3:30 or 4 p.m., with no operations on weekends.

"I've been looking for a site like this for four or five years," said Taylor. "This area is absolutely ideal. I'm not going to disturb anybody."

The barking issue was prevalent in the discussion, with Taylor explaining how he will impose a "strict policy against" what would appear to be normal canine behavior.

He cited four reasons why dogs bark - social anxiety and/or frustration, territoriality, fear and/or phobia, and separation anxiety.

Taylor said the routine of his schedule and consistency go a long way to preventing those conditions.

"We really give them no reason to bark," said Taylor. "Some dogs bark because they're excited, but we won't take those (to Salem Street.)"

Asked by Ward 7 Alderman Raymond Drapeau if noise from a nearby rifle range would distract the dogs, Taylor said he regularly walks his dogs past a construction area on the Fellsway where nail guns are used, and he hasn't "run into any problems."

City Council President Charles Doherty said the permit could be conditioned for review after a period of six months or a year, if excessive barking or any other problems arise. This was also a suggestion which arose during the initial hearing on the request before the Planning Board.

Taylor said the dogs would be contained in an area enclosed by a double gate. Once the vehicle carrying the dogs enters the first gate, it is closed behind the vehicle. The second gate is then opened, the dogs are released into the exercise area, with no possibility of escape.

Another issue was the proximity to residential homes, one of which is apparently on the same lot owned by Robert Holland, who initially proposed an indoor sports facility and received a special permit, which has subsequently been held up on appeal in court.

Holland himself spoke in support of the special permit for the dog exercise facility, and offered a letter from the tenant of the home who is also in favor.

"It (the home) is in the left corner (of the lot from Salem Street) and there's a 30-foot tall building between us and Salem Street," added Taylor.

Holland noted he received permission from the EPA to build the sports facility, and said environmental concerns about the dog exercise area would be similarly minimal.

In response to questions from various council members, Taylor said he was "fully bonded and insured," and would be willing to register at least two of his work vehicles in Woburn, for excise tax purposes.

Asked if the business would ever become a kennel, Taylor replied: "This will never turn into anything (other) than what I'm describing right now."

Public hearing

Wiley Street resident Melvin Lieberman said his dog attends a similar facility in Billerica and enjoys it.

"He can't wait to go there," said Lieberman.

Barking, he noted, is "well-controlled," and the "trainers are very good with a water bottle."

Much of the success of a dog care facility is dependent upon the skill of the trainers, but overall "it's a wonderful thing for the dogs and a wonderful thing for the owners," Lieberman said.

Lori Medeiros, Marietta Street, said she was "neutral," on the idea of a dog exercise facility on Salem Street, specifically in favor of anything that benefits animals, but adding she had concerns about potential environmental problems at the Salem Street site.

"Personally, I don't know if I would want my dog there," said Medeiros.

Medeiros, whose home is close to the rifle range, noted her red bone coon hound - a hunting breed - is often frightened by the noises of gun shots.

Al Audette, Washington Street, said East Woburn generally seems to be "saddled with a lot of (businesses) with nuisance values," and added barking remains an issue to him.

"I'm not against dogs, but how do you guarantee no barking?" he asked.

Russell Street resident John Salemme said there have been noise problems with an animal hospital in his neighborhood, especially during weekends.

"We were assured there wasn't going to be any barking ... and I can hear it from one-third of a mile away," said Salemme.

Taylor reminded the audience that his business would not be operational on weekends or nights.

The Planning Board held its initial hearing on Tuesday, March 28 and continued the matter until its April 25 meeting and scheduled a site visit at 6:15 p.m. The Planning Board also wanted to review a second use proposed for the site, a car storage request, to see how both would fit on the site.

While some Planning Board members were concerned with the barking and how it would impact residential homes in the area, other members suggested approving the permit for up to a year to give the applicant a chance to prove himself.