The Montgomery County Humane Society is a step closer to being able to open offices on the site of Aspin Hill Memorial Park and to revamp the pet cemetery there.

On Thursday, Montgomery County Planning Board Chairwoman Françoise Carrier and commissioners Amy Presley and Norman Dreyfuss voted in favor of a zoning text amendment that would change the county's zoning ordinance to increase land-use options for historic buildings.

The zoning amendment will head to the County Council for a June 14 public hearing.

County Councilwoman Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring sponsored the zoning amendment.

“We’re pleased that the Planning Board has approved the ZTA,” said Cris Bombaugh, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society. “We’re just looking forward to seeing this process through.”

Bombaugh said Zoning Text Amendment 11-02 would allow the organization to refurbish three dilapidated buildings for administrative purposes on the 7.79-acre property that have been condemned because of neglect from the previous property owner.

She said the zoning amendment also would allow the Humane Society to refurbish and continue to operate the pet cemetery at Aspin Hill Memorial Park, a historic cemetery for celebrity and local pets on Georgia Avenue. People also have been buried there.

The property includes a nonconforming use a pet cemetery on land zoned for residential use. The current law prohibits the re-establishment of any nonconforming use if the use ceases operation for at least six months.

Bombaugh said future land uses for the site have not been finalized, but the organization is considering options including an animal clinic and animal welfare education classes for adults and children.

She said she does not have cost estimates for the possible options for land use.

According to Park and Planning documents, other uses associated with the pet cemetery include kennels for boarding animals and a crematory.

There are about 14 historic sites in the county that could benefit from the zoning amendment, Park and Planning documents state.

The Humane Society is the third animal welfare group to take on responsibility for the property. Dorothy M. Shapiro of Potomac donated the property to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in 1988.

When PETA moved out in 1996, the property was conveyed to the Chesapeake Wildlife Sanctuary and its president, Dianne D. Pearce, but fell into disrepair. Shapiro filed a lawsuit against the group.

The Humane Society later was given control of the property after Pearce and her organization were found by a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge in April 2007 to be in breach of a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions, a legal agreement that states who can occupy the property and how it can be used.

The Humane Society obtained the deed to the property on May 4, 2007.

Shapiro said she would not give permission for the property to be used for any purpose not specified in the covenants, which she said allow educational or scientific use but not using animals for research.

She said she wants the Humane Society to restore the grounds and building as promised, but in the meantime she is trying to get the property back for use by a charitable or humanitarian organization that will care for it.

Shapiro doubts the Humane Society is prepared to do that.

The Humane Society has been struggling to generate revenue to maintain the property and has depended on help from volunteers.

“They need an outside audit there are questions about funds that have never been answered,” Shapiro said.

Bombaugh said the passage of the zoning amendment would be the first step in transforming the pet cemetery into a community asset again.

“We’re going through the process to carry out exactly what Mrs. Shapiro and we want done with the property,” she said.

The zoning amendment has generated support from some Aspen Hill residents and the county’s Historic Preservation Commission, an independent agency staffed by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission that administers the historic preservation ordinance, including recommending county sites of potential historical significance.

Bob Clarke, recording secretary for the Aspen Hill Civic Association, said the association’s board members had agreed to send a letter of support for the zoning amendment.

“It will be a positive benefit for the community and help rehabilitate the property,” he said.

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