At its June 14 meeting, the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) approved an application to turn the old CVS property into a veterinary hospital.

The applicant, Doron Berger, who currently operates Shoreline Veterinary Hospital in Clinton, also wants to add grooming, day care, and boarding to the hospital, which required a change in the zoning regulations. That use, which is an accessory use, was approved by the PZC on June 14 as well, which means that on July 12, when it goes into effect, anyone in that B-3 zone who would like to employ that use can apply for a special exception. Now that the regulations have been amended to allow for that use, Shoreline Veterinary Hospital intends to apply for the special exception.

Berger filed an application in April to turn the former CVS space into a veterinary hospital with grooming, day care, and boarding. Berger said he was interested in capitalizing on the expanded space the 8,800 square foot former CVS building. Berger said there would be no changes to the building beyond adding an extra entryway.

Agents for the application said that the business would be open Monday to Saturday and operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday. There would be reduced operation hours on Saturdays. They said that there would be no after-hours emergency services offered.

The applicant also applied to change the zoning regulations in section 27.2.41 to allow for the grooming, boarding, and day care component of the application in the B-3 zone. The public hearing was held as part of the regularly scheduled PZC meeting on June 14. Nobody spoke either for or against the zoning change application, though Diane Nazarko spoke, saying she was neither for nor against the application. The commission members unanimously approved the zoning application that paves the way for the grooming and boarding use to be allowed in the zone.

The applicant plans to file a special exception application for the grooming and boarding uses separately from the veterinary hospital use.

“Once the change to the proposed amendment to the Zoning Regulations for grooming/boarding/care becomes effective, July 12, 2021, the applicant can apply for a Special Exception to request that this new use be approved for 14 East Main Street,” said Zoning Enforcement Officer Kathy King.

During the meeting, the commission did approve an application for the veterinary hospital, which the applicant said would take up around 5,000 square feet at most. The commission could receive the subsequent grooming and boarding application as soon as next month. Ken Larson, the owner of the property at 14 East Main Street, explained to the Harbor News in 2020 that CVS’s lease on the property ran through the end of January 2021, and that a new tenant was not possible until that lease was up.