Zoning code changes are needed to establish Newton’s stray dog pound

Zoning codes need to be changed in order for the city to properly establish its animal control facility for stray dogs, but a commercial property owner who owns land around the site and around the nearby racetrack asked council members and city administration to speak with other landowners before making a decision.

Tyler Clement, of Newton, requested council not waive the subsequent hearing and instead spend the next two weeks speaking with himself and other property owners about the proposed animal control facility. The third consideration of the code amendments will take place Feb. 17 at city hall.

In December 2024, the Newton City Council showed interest in placing the dog kennel near the pump station northeast of the intersection of Iowa Speedway Drive and Lincoln Street. It was estimated at the time that it would cost roughly $40,000-$50,000 to prepare the site. But it came equipped with needed utilities.

Even though Clement is director of operations at Iowa Speedway, he spoke to council as a property owner of land in the southeast quadrant of Newton, which is currently zoned “tourism oriented commercial,” or C-T. Clement said both he and his family voluntarily annexed agricultural land into the city in 2007 and 2014.

“This land is located directly across the road from a proposed site of this kennel facility that has created some of this conversation and dialogue,” Clement said. “We did this as a family in an effort to grow the City of Newton and provide development opportunity for the city reflecting commercial tourism.”

The Clement family understood the dialogue and zoning to do that, and since then there have been other opportunities to use the land for other purposes. When the family was approached to use the land to host a solar field, they said no. When they were approached to store pipeline product, they said no again.

Even though the pipeline storage would have been temporary, Clement argued it would not be conducive to the look the family wanted to create for commercial tourism in that area. The same could be said for the proposed solar field, albeit that project certainly would not have been temporary.

Ultimately, Clement suggested city officials speak with him and others before the next public hearing scheduled this month. By the time the third public hearing concludes, council will be required to take action and decide whether to adopt the proposed code changes or vote it down and return to the drawing board.

“In between the next hearing, have conversations with personal landowners in that quadrant in the southeast corner of the city to converse and potentially have some constructive conversation instead of just passing after a second hearing,” Clement said during the second pubic hearing on Feb. 3.

Newton Mayor Evelyn George stressed that council was only deciding on the zoning codes and not the animal control project itself. The council has already purchased a modular dog kennel but the location has not been officially decided. However, the council did reach a consensus over the pump station site.

During the first public hearing, council member Stacy Simbro said there is a lot of good detail in the amendments. According to city documents, the new zoning language builds in controls such as a minimum distance of 500 feet from homes in order to protect dense residential neighborhoods from this particular use.

For areas where residential uses may be in close proximity to a proposed dog kennel — agriculture, light industrial or heavy industrial — the new code would require a conditional use permit be obtained, which triggers a public hearing and neighbor notifications before any action can be taken by the board of adjustment.

Any decision on the location of a municipally-owned facility would be subject to a decision by the Newton City Council during a public meeting.