Dog hotel plan draws howls of protests

But the enterprise’s would-be neighbors in South Boston see the project as anything but heavenly. At a community meeting this week, they panned the plan, which they say would cause major disruption in the middle of their densely populated residential neighborhood.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, how can they put that here?’ ’’ said Marjan Rabiee, who can see the lot outside her back porch. “I have cancer, and I won’t be able to stand the noise and smell.’’

Residents recently learned about the planned dog hotel, called Fenway Bark, after a banner was posted on a fence on East First Street at the proposed site, which housed a former printing company and is bordered by rows of houses on three sides.

Jane Fulton, the South Shore woman who devised the kennel plan, said the dog hotel, which would occupy one block between East Second and East First streets near K Street, would create 17 jobs and a one-stop solution for grooming, supplies, and training for about 100 dogs, as well as a handful of cats. More than 1,100 of the city’s 9,000 licensed dogs live in South Boston, the mayor’s office said.

The city has 10 kennels that offer overnight services, but Fulton said none is as luxurious as the one she has proposed.

“All we are trying to do is develop a small, nice business that Boston needs,’’ Fulton said. “There’s not a single overnight facility like this in the city of Boston. We are trying to create jobs. We are trying to create solutions. And that really was our intent.’’

But residents said the kennel would create noise, a nasty animal odor, and increased traffic in a neighborhood where parking is scarce.

And they were irate that no one informed them of the plan until they demanded answers.

“We keep getting dumped on,’’ said Lucky Devlin, who has lived in the neighborhood for all of her 68 years. “This is not the business for the neighborhood.’’

Residents also contend and the city acknowledges that the project did not go through the appropriate permitting process.

Kennels are allowed in commercial and industrial zones, but not in residential neighborhoods. The East First Street area, however, is a bit of a hybrid.

It is in a commercial and industrial zone, but because residents live across the street from big businesses, the city has granted it another layer of zoning protection, known as an interim planning overlay district.

That means that instead of simply approving the project, the Inspectional Services Department should have first sought approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The board, in turn, should have consulted with the Boston Redevelopment Authority and held a hearing to determine whether to approve the application.

But the Zoning Board of Appeals was never involved in the process and no hearing was held.

“We made a mistake,’’ said Lisa Timberlake, spokeswoman for the inspectional services. “It was human error.’’

The department revoked the permit last week, and the building’s owner must reapply.

In the meantime, Fulton faces an uphill battle as she tries to persuade residents to buy into her dog hotel dream.

At this week’s community meeting, Fulton and her business partner, Jim Morrison, seemed stunned and flustered as more than 100 residents sneered, snickered, and shouted their opposition to the plan. The duo played video of a similar dog kennel in Chicago showing a worker reading to dogs and a lounge where the exhausted canines can rest after romping.

But South Boston residents were not impressed. “The building spans two blocks and is surrounded by houses,’’ said Mary Cooney, a community advocate who lives across from the site. “It floors me that she would not have considered that a dog kennel in the middle of the neighborhood would not have an impact on residents.’’

Officials at the BRA said that because of the community opposition, they would be reluctant to support the dog hotel plan. State Senator Jack Hart, who represents the neighborhood, also shares that view.

“I stand with the neighborhood,’’ he said.

He said he is working with the BRA on a master plan that, with community input, will determine what the zoning for the East First Street area should be.

For Patricia DeMaria, whose K Street backyard abuts the kennel site, the changes can’t come soon enough.

“It’s just unfair,’’ she said. “They should just change the zoning. We shouldn’t have to deal with this.’’

Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.