Zoning board gives OK for future downtown Kingsport cat cafe

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — A couple hoping to bring a cat cafe business to downtown Kingsport was given their first green light on Thursday.

“A cat cafe basically is like a giant foster home for shelter and rescue cats,” April Carder said. “My husband and I, who will be the co-owners, have fostered cats in our home for the last couple of years, mostly through Petworks Animal Services, the local city shelter here in Kingsport. We’ve also taken in some animals that folks have brought to us, frankly, off the streets.”

April and Charles Carder plan to open Boops & Beans Cat Cafe in the downtown area once they can secure a location. The business will give people a chance to socialize with the cats and adopt them to new homes. However, the Carders first had to approach the Kingsport Board of Zoning Appeals for a review of wording in the city’s code.

City ordinance does not allow animal hospitals and boarding facilities in the B-2 Central Business District or in the B-2E Central Business Edge District.

“The business that we are proposing, because it will be housing animals overnight, specifically cats, one of the issues was downtown Kingsport has an ordinance that includes a prohibition against certain businesses that are land intensive or involve outdoor recreation,” Carder said. “That particular provision happens to include a reference to boarding facilities and animal hospital. So before we make a significant investment downtown here in one of the buildings, we wanted to make sure that we wouldn’t run into an issue where we get all the way too close to opening the doors and then find out we actually can’t run the business.”

The Carders asked the board for an interpretation of the ordinance during Thursday’s meeting. She informed board members that the entire business would be contained within the building and would not involve outdoor and land-intensive recreation since all cats would be housed indoors exclusively.

Carder also told the board that Boops & Beans would keep the building and surrounding area clean and odor-free to the best of its ability.

Kingsport Planning Manager Ken Weems told News Channel 11 in an email Friday that the Board of Zoning Appeals found the business would not be prohibited and informed the Carders that they could pursue opening the facility in the downtown area.

“The city and board have been very supportive, and they’ve agreed to let us do that,” Carder said.

While the Boops & Beans Cat Cafe still has a ways to go to become a reality, Carder said the community response to the proposed business has been encouraging.

“It’s been fantastic,” she said. “Like I said, the city has been so supportive, just even since we’ve announced it on social media and we’ve got our very bare bones website started. It’s been incredibly well received as far as we can tell.”

The cat cafe will be open to the public, and Carder said people do not have to plan to adopt a cat in order to visit. Anyone hoping to spend time with the felines can do so.

“The cat cafe concept is still relatively new in some areas, but we do have four of them open and running in the state of Tennessee and a couple more in the process of opening,” she said. “But I think folks are really getting excited about having something like this in the Tri-Cities area, and we’re really excited to bring it specifically to Kingsport.”

The cat cafe will also offer cat grooming and boarding services once it opens. A note on the project details submitted to the board clarifies that while the business will be called a “cafe,” Boops & Beans will only serve pre-packaged foods and drinks and offer a self-serve Keurig-type hot beverage station.

The business will also sell some cat-themed merchandise and art. The submitted plans also note the lounge will include games and books, as well as quiet spaces for people to spend time with kittens.

Carder hopes the cat cafe will allow potential cat owners to see the animals’ real personalities in a comfortable environment instead of a shelter.

“We love Kingsport,” Carder said. “We love the Tri-Cities, and we’re really glad that we’re going to be able to be a part of bringing more business to downtown Kingsport and really giving the community an opportunity to help with shelter cats.”

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