The former Camp Haccamo site in Penfield could soon house a high-end dog hotel. Developer Frank Imburgia owns the 11 acre parcel, which is tucked between Route 441, Panorama Trail, Allen Creek, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Imburgia’s representatives say that the proposal is modeled after luxe canine accommodations in cities including Chicago and Los Angeles.
The proposal will likely require a zoning change, says Jim Costello, Penfield’s director of developmental services. The property is in a light industrial district that doesn’t allow for operations such as kennels or animal boarding facilities, he says. One option may be to rezone the parcel, and an adjacent parcel that will likely be developed soon, for general business, he says.
The dog hotel would be no mere kennel. Each pup would get his or her own private room — there will probably be suites for dog families, too — and at least some of the rooms would have flat-panel TV’s, Imburgia’s representatives told town officials.
The dogs may go outside in small groups for walks, the reps say, but otherwise they’ll stay inside the hotel, which would have a pool, playroom, training area, and grooming salon.
Camp Haccamo left the Penfield site in 2008 and moved to Rochester Rotary’s Sunshine Campus in Rush. It left behind a collection of buildings on the property, which attract trespassers, Costello says, and have become a nuisance.
Imburgia’s representatives say that they’re ready to clear the site as early as January, provided that they get the sense that the town is dog-hotel friendly. Town Board members say that they’re open to the proposal, but that they want to be thoughtful about changing the property’s zoning.
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2015.
Do it Penfield!
A much needed business in Penfield!
Needs to clean the place up it’s a total mess.
Would have been nice to see this property used to create experiential educational experiences for youth, integrated with a casual Conference facility that the Haccamo nature setting would have provided. This idea was pitched by a local non-profit who laid out the community service vision, but the prior owners held out for a different offer. For those prior campers and staff, the Hacccamo property will always be special for the growth that took place summer after summer. Best wishes to the new owners, hope the property builds new dreams for those involved. The idea sounds novel. Jack Sutherland/Penfield
Only in Penfield would this be needed… and Pittsford.