County mulls expanding law on barking dogs

An uninterrupted night of sleep is rare these days for James Dubovsky, who says his neighbor’s six dogs bark incessantly.

Dubovsky, a Free Union resident, complained about his situation Wednesday morning before the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.

“It’s unfortunate that we and other victims must come before you to protect our quality of life,” he said.

Dubovsky has little ability to stop the barking, he says, because his neighbor is exempt from the county’s dog-barking ordinance enacted last year. Under the ordinance, it is unlawful for a dog to make excessive, untimely or continuous noises, such as howling or barking, for 30 consecutive minutes or more. The rule, however, applies only to properties in the county’s “growth area” and properties smaller than 5 acres that are located in the “rural area.”

Several members of the Board of Supervisors said they have heard similar complaints from other residents.

“There’s an obligation for people to take care of their pets and to make sure their pets aren’t bothering people continuously,” Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker said.

The board voted unanimously Wednesday to hold a public hearing on July 8 to consider expanding the dog-barking ordinance to include Albemarle’s rural areas, which make up roughly 95 percent of the county.

The board, however, appears split over whether to enact such a policy. Supervisors Kenneth C. Boyd, Sally H. Thomas and Lindsay G. Dorrier Jr. said they are not interested in expanding the ordinance countywide, while Rooker and Ann Mallek favor the idea. Chairman David Slutzky said he is on the fence, as he wants to preserve the rural way of life, but also wants to ensure that residents can enjoy their homes without having to listen to dogs barking endlessly.

The supervisors said they want to hear the opinion of the public on the matter before taking action. “I could definitely be persuaded,” Slutzky said.

Crozet library design

In other actions Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors endorsed the design of a new library to be built in downtown Crozet.

The planned 18,300-square-foot library would be significantly larger than the existing library, which is only 1,900 square feet. The county sees the library as an important anchor that would increase the quality of life in the growing Crozet community.

Melanie Hennigan, a principal of the project’s architecture firm of Grimm + Parker, said the two-floor building will be energy efficient and bright and welcoming to children, teenagers and adults.

“It’s going to be a place where when people visit the library, they’re going to want to come back,” she said.

The first floor most likely will feature two public meeting spaces, while the second floor will feature a children’s area, a meeting room, the library’s collection, a fireplace with sitting areas, computer stations and more.

Construction was originally intended to begin next month, but the project has been delayed until July 2011 because of a lack of funding brought about by the economic downturn. If construction proceeds on pace, the new library would open by fall 2012.

Hennigan and several other library advocates recommended that the county accelerate its plans for the library to take advantage of construction prices that have dropped significantly because of the slowdown in the market.

Bill Letteri, director of the county’s office of facilities development, said he expects the favorable prices will start to erode by early 2010.

“I hope you’re right,” Slutzky responded. “Because that would mean the economy’s turning around.”

New life for old school

In other news, the board approved a one-year, $15,000 lease for a private arts school to operate in the vacant Old Crozet School.

The board gave its OK to a plan that would allow Old Crozet School Arts and the Field School, a private middle school for boys, to occupy the building.

Sharon Tolczyk, the arts school’s artistic director, said the school will offer classes to students of all ages in visual arts, theater, music and dance.

Bright Stars

The board also heard a presentation about the county’s “Bright Stars” program, in which at-risk youngsters attend a pre-kindergarten program to prepare them for school.

Students who attended the program in its first year, in 1995-96, are graduating from high school this spring. One student just graduated from Blue Ridge School and is going on to Virginia Commonwealth University. Another is graduating from a school in Richmond. And 10 will graduate Saturday from Monticello High School.

Terry Higgins, the program’s coordinator at Stone Robinson Elementary School, said the first class of Bright Stars has gone on to win academic accolades, such as awards for digital imaging, journalism and auto repair.

Mary Archer, 17, is one of the first Bright Stars. She will graduate from Monticello and plans to attend Piedmont Virginia Community College for two years before transferring to VCU, where she hopes to study mass communications. She would like to work as a journalist one day, she said.

While she cannot remember much about Bright Stars, she believes the program set her on the right track to prepare her for school. “It was really helpful,” she said.