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06/16/2021 08:45 AMFor more than a decade, Eunice DeMond has run Little Rascals Rescue and Rehabilitation from her house on Old Whitfield Street, nursing injured or abandoned wild animals back to health, often at the behest of people on the shoreline who have found the animals and call her, frantic, not knowing what else to do.
That work is currently on hold, however, as the town, faced with complaints from a neighbor, struggles to reconcile that widely praised service with zoning regulations that appear to prohibit such a use downtown.
A self-described one-woman operation, DeMond received a state license to rehabilitate wildlife including raccoons, squirrels, and possums about a decade ago. An official complaint last winter regarding Little Rascals resulted in Zoning Enforcement Officer Erin Mannix issuing “cease and desist” order in January, which has been appealed but remains in effect.
Following the complaint, DeMond applied for a special permit to designate her organization for “non-profit philanthropic use,” which is currently being heard by the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC), resulting in both complex, subjective questions about the underlying zoning and ordinances as well as plenty of emotion from residents, many of whom have defended DeMond vociferously on social media and at public meetings.
Notably, the neighbor who complained, Bill Freeman, is an alternate on the PZC. Mannix said he has recused himself in the case of the application.
There are no animals currently housed on the property now in compliance with the order, according to DeMond’s lawyer Thomas Crosby. A letter dated May 5 from Laurie Fortin of the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) said DeMond has still occasionally received animals from “well-intentioned” people, and those animals must be brought to other wildlife rehabilitators.
The initial public hearing session early this month ran just about two hours as residents sought to express mostly support, with some complaining that there wasn’t enough time to speak and PZC Chair Phillip Johnson eventually cutting off public comment as the night grew late.
Though community sentiment seems clearly tilted in DeMond’s favor (as of June 2, the PZC had received more than 50 letters in support of her, and fewer than 10 in opposition), there remains plenty of technical questions for the PZC to consider as it moves forward.
Guilford’s zoning regulations do allow “facilities of philanthropic, charitable, agricultural, historical, and cultural institutions or societies not conducted as a business or for profit” in residential zones under the special permit process. Mannix noted that Little Rascals does not specifically have non-profit designation as a 501(c)(3) LLC, though DeMond as an individual is registered with a 501(c)(3) as part of another organization called DP Rescue.
Also, an ordinance enacted by the town in 1991 explicitly disallows DeMond’s work, banning anyone from sheltering or feeding certain animals, including raccoons, though Mannix noted that this ordinance was enacted in response to a specific health concern about rabies transmission 30 years ago, and she said it is also not the job of the PZC to enforce such an ordinance.
DeMond and Crosby argued that the rehabilitation is permitted as an accessory use, which explicitly does allow animal shelters in residential zones, though the regulations do not define what qualifies as an “animal shelter.” Crosby added that DeMond has complied with state regulations and holds several certifications related to wildlife rehabilitation.
Crosby also submitted DEEP documentation including evidence of non-profit tax exemption status for Little Rascals, and argued DeMond was simply applying for the continued ability to do what she has done safely and successfully for at least a decade.
“What we have here is a situation where this particular wildlife rescue...operation has been in existence since 2012,” Crosby said. “We are pursuing the special permit approval because we want to make sure that you have the opportunity to look at the entire operation and see if it meets your concerns and the regulations.”
“I think we meet all those regulations,” he added.
DeMond had also spent several years before she received any licensure informally helping out neighbors and animal control on a smaller scale, taking in a few animals at a time. The application seeks to allow a maximum of 40 small animals on the property.
DeMond has not submitted a professional site plan for her rehab facilities, which the PZC eventually determined she would need to do ahead of the next public hearing.
Marjorie Shanksky, an attorney for the neighbors, cited the aforementioned ordinance and also contended that the accessory use that Crosby sought did not apply in this circumstance, saying that those functions are meant to be “incidental” and also functionally compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. Wildlife rehabilitation, she argued, is “incongruous and incompatible” to the zone.
DeMond admitted there was a “rodent problem” that was discovered by former Guilford health director Dennis Johnson and addressed several years ago, as well as a blight citation from the state that was also fixed.
Shansky additionally objected to the “11th hour” introduction of DP Rescue meant to prove non-profit status for DeMond, saying that organization did not have any relevance to the application with only a “tenuous” connection to DeMond and Little Rascals.
“[DeMond’s work] is a beautiful thing in and of itself, but in the wrong location,” Shansky said.
The Community
Though those who object to DeMond’s facility have focused on the technical aspects of her work and facilities, the people who have rallied around her are doing so based on the value of what she does—not just for animals, but for the community as a whole.
Required to be available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week based on her registration status at the state, DeMond has taken on the difficult and mostly unheralded work of responding to calls all along the shoreline to pick up suffering animals, including squirrels, raccoons, possums, rabbits, and a variety of other creatures.
Support has poured in from all across the state following her application, with letters from people in Northford, Branford, Clinton, Westbrook, and Fairfield attesting to the value of DeMond’s work and their belief it should be allowed to continue.
“I personally worked with Eunice,” said Anna Martino, another licensed wildlife rehabber from Branford. “She mentored me. It’s because of her that I’m a wildlife rehabber. I wish that everybody was like Eunice.”
“Eunice is a lifesaver in every sense of the word,” wrote Kim Vigliotti. “People in the community depend on her[,] as do town and other organizations such as our town police, fire department, and Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter who regularly call on her or direct citizens to her when a wild animal in distress is encountered.”
Other letters told specific stories of animals DeMond had helped rescue and expressed the belief that her goals aligned with the town’s overall commitment and plans for development.
A handful of people expressed frustration about the structure of the June 2 meeting, which ran just under four hours and allowed about 45 minutes late in the evening for questions about DeMond’s application from the public, with no time reserved for statements in support or against.
Johnson explained that there were more items on the PZC’s agenda because of a noticing blunder the week previously, which forced the commission to push some items to this week. Johnson also allotted about 10 minutes of that 45 minute timeframe for Shanksy to present her case against the application, which clearly irked those who had already waited close to three hours to weigh in.
Nikki Korman said she was “anxious to make a statement,” but was told by Johnson that she would have to wait, possibly until the next meeting.
“I’m concerned about your time factor and not allowing people to express themselves in support or not of this situation, and I think it’s unfair to cut the time off,” she said.
Korman and another speaker later tried to interrupt Shansky, sparking annoyance from Johnson.
“Can we just show a little decorum here, because I don’t feel like throwing people out of meetings. But if people are going to start interrupting, that’s the way it’s going to go,” he said. In the end, the public hearing was continued to Wednesday, July 7, which Johnson and Mannix said will include more time for public comment.