Demond Application Denied
Despite an overwhelming outpouring of support in favor of local wildlife rehabilitator Eunice Demond, the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) voted last week 4-2 against allowing her to continue housing wild animals on her Old Whitfield Street property, effectively disallowing work that has been universally lauded as valuable to the town—and which Demond says she is committed to continuing in some way.
Following a handful of lengthy public hearings and deliberations over the last two months or so, the PZC spent about 25 minutes at the Aug. 4 meeting before handing down the denial, with most members saying that they simply couldn’t approve the facilities based on Guilford’s zoning code despite acknowledging the benefits of what Demond does.
“I’m hopeful at some point we can come up with some standards and locations to help move this forward in the future,” said PZC Chair Phil Johnson.
Johnson, who was one of the four members who voted to deny Demond’s application, seemed apologetic after the final vote, murmuring “sorry about that” before moving onto the next agenda item.
In the end, it was Johnson, Richard Wallace, Sean Cosgrove, and Scott Edmond who voted to deny the application, with Jamie Stein and Allyn Brown opposing the PZC’s decision.
After a lengthy, highly emotional process, most of the PZC members cited the letter of the law—or lack of a letter—when explaining their decisions.
“Regardless of how one feels about what goes on there [at Demond’s facility], it’s the zoning code. That’s my bottom line,” said Wallace.
Guilford does not have any kind of definition for a “wildlife rescue” facility in its regulations, something with which the PZC struggled throughout the consideration of the application.
The dissenters, Stein and Brown, argued that there was enough gray area in the interpretation of regulations to give Demond’s uniquely important and universally lauded operation a green light.
“We as a commission can work through these gray areas of the code,” Stein said. ”Just because we don’t explicitly list this, the service that Ms. Demond is providing not just to the town but to the region, I am not so inclined to dismiss this as inappropriate land use.”
The Complaint
An official complaint last winter regarding Little Rascals from neighbors Bill Freeman, who sits on the PZC as an alternate, and Alicia Dolce resulted in Zoning Enforcement Officer Erin Mannix issuing a “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,” as Guilford’s regulations do not have any definitions for the kind of work Demond has been doing. Demond has operated under the auspices of the state since 2012, and received support from the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection during the application process.
Also earlier this summer, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) modified an ordinance that it characterized as outdated and vague that originally might have disallowed Demond’s work regardless of any PZC decision. That modification opened the door for the PZC to potentially approve the wildlife rehab, as long as it remained in compliance with other local and state regulations.
Dolce, who lives with Freeman on the property next to Demond’s, has reported flies and rats around their house, which she attributed to the dozens of animals housed in sheds. Freeman and Dolce hired a lawyer, who focused on these alleged nuisance issues as well as safety concerns regarding parking or emergency access to Demond’s facilities. Freeman and Dolce also claimed that Demond had significantly grown her facilities over the last few months.
Freeman recused himself from the discussion. He did respond to an email seeking comment at press time.
Going Forward
The day after the PZC meeting, Demond posted to her Facebook page that she is “not giving up guys[,] never.”
A Facebook fundraiser page titled “Help Eunice’s pets/animal fundraiser” stating that it is for attorney’s fees, fencing, and updates had raised more than $9,000 of a $16,000 goal from more than 170 donors as of Aug. 9.
Nearly everyone who has spoken or written to the PZC during the application process has attested to Demond’s empathy and character, as she has responded 24 hours a day to rescue abandoned or injured wild animals, and taken in creatures from all over the state, often dozens at a time, requiring nearly constant care. She is not paid for the work.
Demond told the Courier that she did not feel that the hearing process had been fair, saying she felt Freeman had influenced the decision and that officials had provided poor guidance on how to proceed with getting an approval.
But she said she remains completely dedicated to pursuing whatever avenues or methods that will allow her to continue caring for animals.
“I know how much I love doing this work,” she said. “It’s a life’s journey.”
Demond said she is still speaking with her attorney, and hoping the town “will throw a bone at me” as far as trying to provide her with a new physical location or some new regulation that might allow her to keep rescuing animals in Guilford.
“I’m not exactly sure what the offers are or the exceptions that are on the table,” she said.
There is a town-owned property just a few hundred feet away from her house that Demond said could serve her purposes to house the older, more independent critters that are kept outdoors. That parcel is zoned for industrial use, but Demond said there haven’t been any official conversations about it.
“I’m hoping, if they’re not going to let me do it on my property, to have a place or places close by,” she said.
Even a short distance would create difficulty, as she would have to regularly bring water and food to the enclosures as well as clean them, she said, but for a very short distance it might be workable. Demond added she had interns who are currently in the process of getting their own cages and state licenses to continue the work, which will hopefully take some of the pressure off her.
But she said she is also readying for appeals or going to court if that becomes necessary, starting with the Zoning Board of Appeals, though it might not hear her case until October, she said.
Demond also can appeal the PZC ruling to Superior Court, which she said she is considering. Mannix said the town has not yet received any notice of an appeal as of Aug. 9.
Though she said she is focused on the future, Demond expressed continued frustration with how the town handled her case, as well as anger at Freeman and Dolce.
“[Freeman] is still filing false complaints,” she said. “All of his allegations are wrong. I’ve got no rodents on my property, I’ve got no odor on my property, I’ve got no flies on my property.”
In recent years, both state and local officials had identified blight on Demond’s property, but it appeared these issues had been addressed, with a state inspector writing a glowing letter this past spring praising Demond for working hard to maintain and bolster her facilities.
Mannix recommended the special permit process, according to Demond, and in hindsight she wished she had applied as a “wildlife sanctuary,” something that is also not defined in regulations.
Mannix told the Courier she had offered the special permit option simply as something that “seemed to be the one potential route of permitting,” since Demond’s operation was clearly not going to fit cleanly under any existing regulation.
“It was by her guidance that we filed for this special permit, and I think if we had just fought this cease and desist I think this would be all said and done and over with, because legally I’m doing everything I can do...here in my zone,” Demond said.
Demond also said she felt the PZC had taken too narrow a view of the special permit process, which she claimed gave members more qualitative power to “bend the rules.”
“You’re allowed to change those rules and regulations for that person. But they refused to do it,” she said. “I believe everything was influenced by Bill Freeman.”
Guilford’s zoning regulations on special permits include plenty of standards, but most are qualitative, requiring the PZC to consider traffic safety, fire code, parking, and ability to conform to the surrounding neighborhood rather than providing hard numbers or definitions.
Freeman and Dolce claimed that none of these things had been addressed by Demond. A somewhat simple site plan and other documentation were provided as part of the application, mostly by professionals volunteering their time and skills, according to Demond’s lawyer.
The outpouring of support from the community throughout the process has been “absolutely amazing,” Demond said, and in spite of the ruling of the PZC, she said she was “humbled” by how many people appreciated her work.
Demond said that now more than ever, caring for helpless critters, passing on her skills to young volunteers, and learning about and administering vaccines to help protect larger animal populations remains her absolute joy and priority.
“By no means am I done fighting,” she said “I worked years to get where I’m at, and to save these lives, and I’m not about to give up.”