Waltham Residents Show Strong Support for Cat Shelter

More than 100 Waltham residents packed a Tuesday public hearing to support a zoning change that would designate additional parts of the city in which animal shelters could operate.

Specifically, it would allow for shelters for in Business A, Business B and Business C zones along with conservation zones, City Councilor George Darcy said, during a joint hearing of the City Council and the Board of Survey and Planning. Animal shelters would have to receive a special permit to operate.

Darcy proposed the change as Waltham-based Cat Connection, a cat rescue group, has proposed opening a cat shelter in the former North Waltham library next to the John F. Kennedy Middle School. However, the proposed zoning change is not specific to any proposed shelter, City Council President Robert Waddick said.

Currently, only thee types of commercial districts in Waltham allow for animal shelters, Darcy said. Under the proposal, animal shelters would still be prohibited from operating in residential areas, Darcy said.

Currently, Waltham lacks an animal shelter. When residents call police about feral cats, the Cat Connection handle the service requests, Darcy said.

SUPPORT FOR SHELTER 

• Cat Connection President Eva Miller told the council the rescue group needs the shelter to help curtail the burgeoning population of feral cats in Waltham.  ” If we stop doing it because we don’t have the place to take them, there are going to be more and more,” Miller told the council. “I want to see a shelter for cats so that we can take are of those cats that are out there and not just ignore them.”
• At the start of the year, the Cat Connection stopped accepting cats because it said it no longer had enough foster homes to house them. The group said it needs a new shelter space to resume accepting endangered cats.
• Deborah Schreiber, the director of the Ellen Gifford Animal Shelter in Brighton, told the council she supported the proposal because it would be a great opportunity for students to volunteer to take care of animals. “There is no reason for you not to report this,” she told the council. “There is an ongoing and very urgent need to help animals in the city.”
• To bolster his argument for the additional space, Darcy cited the high costs of renting a space along Route 128. He said a non-profit group like the Cat Connection would not be able to afford the high cost.
• Darcy said his visit to the Gifford shelter indicated shelters in Waltham would likely not cause a problem for neighbors. During a visit to the Gifford shelter, Darcy said he saw little traffic around the site.
• In total, 103 people at the hearing stood in favor of the proposal. Nobody stood in opposition of the proposal.
• Darcy acknowledged the zoning change would also allow for dog shelters. 

The zoning change was referred to the city’s Rules & Ordinance committee’s June 17 meeting. The Board of Survey and Planning will review the issue on June 5.