LEWISBORO, N.Y. – Eric Bleile, the owner of Active Dog LLC, has requested a zoning amendment for a 50-acre plot of land in South Salem to allow a new special-use permit for ranching. The currently vacant plot is on Route 123 near Smith Ridge Road.

“He’s training and exercising dogs for people who don’t want to leave their dogs locked up all day,” said Michael Sirignano, a Cross River attorney who is representing Bleile and Active Dog. “He has a staff and each trainer will take six to eight dogs and run them, walk them and train them.”

Bleile has been working with the dogs in various parks and open spaces in the area, but is looking to set up the South Salem parcel as a more permanent location.

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The proposed amendment has a number of provisos. Among them, no more than one dog per acre of land will be permitted to be exercised on the property at any given time, dog waste must be picked up daily and disposed of off-premises and constantly barking dogs will be prohibited. At its Feb. 26 meeting, the Lewisboro Town Board raised a question as to the number of dogs that would be on the property at any given time, as one dog per acre of land on a 50-plus acre property raises the possibility that more than 50 dogs could be on site. Residents expressed similar concerns.

“You could have 50 dogs there,” said Donn Wagner. “You could have 80 dogs there. Who’s going to go out there and count?”

Sirignano explained Active Dog’s operation.

“His business model is, a trainer shows up, he or she is there for an hour and a half, they leave and another trainer arrives,” Sirignano said.

As such, per the proposal, there would only be, at most, eight dogs on the property at any given time, as no more than eight dogs can be handled by a trainer.





Additionally, residents worried that the lot’s proximity to a residential area will create havoc for neighbors.

“The trails are actually very close to houses, especially on Tommy’s Lane,” Wagner said. “Every single house on Tommy’s Lane is greatly affected by this. And these dogs may not bark, but if you live on Tommy’s Lane and you have a dog, that dog is just going to be going crazy all day long.”

The Town Board is reviewing the proposal. The expectation is that when it is discussed again, more South Salem residents will be in attendance to voice their concerns.

“We just found out about this meeting yesterday,” Wagner said. “Otherwise, more people would have been here. Most of the neighbors that we’ve been in contact with are very concerned about this.”