The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission on Tuesday voted to approve a permit for a Silver Creek man to house 18 dogs at his home.

The decision was unanimous.

The owner of the dogs, businessman Neal Bowlen, uses the Alaskan malamutes for dog-sledding tours on the West Side of Summit County. Bowlen’s attorney Karen O’Brien stressed that her client will not be operating his business out of his Linger Lane home.

Bowlen lives on 14 acres in Silver Creek, a community situated near the Interstate 80/U.S. 40 junction.

“The Bowlens live in one of the most remote sections of the Silver Creek neighborhood,” O’Brien said. “There will be no dog sled tours on the Bowlens’ property.”

The dogs are kept in a sound-insulated barn, she added.

At issue was whether Bowlen had allowed his dogs to bark and run loose in the neighborhood. County officials required Bowlen to apply for a conditional use permit after some neighbors complained that the animals had become a nuisance.

But most who spoke at Tuesday’s hearing expressed support for Bowlen keeping his dogs at his home. Silver Creek resident Gary Kelsch said he recently met the animals.

“Which I really enjoyed,” Kelsch added. “For our family, we’d like to see them stay.”

The Bowlens should receive the permit, Silver Creek resident Annette Velarde told the Planning Commission.

“In my opinion the Bowlens have met every condition of this,” Verlarde said.

According to Snyderville Basin resident Jennifer Sinclair, “the Bowlens’ dogs are just as near and dear to us as our own dogs.”

“Please allow the Bowlens to keep their dogs,” Sinclair said.

But critics claimed that malamutes can be dangerous when allowed to run loose.

“There is precedent that the dogs are dangerous and they have attacked,” Silver Creek resident Dawn Bowes said.

According to Silver Creek resident Watson Bowes, “it really is a safety issue.”

“We’ve got hikers. We’ve got horseback riders,” he said.

Silver Creek resident Rebecca Eaton said many people signed a petition in opposition to the dogs staying in the neighborhood.

“I just don’t think what you do is a good business for Silver Creek Eighteen dogs is not appropriate. It’s totally inappropriate,” said Eaton during Tuesday’s hearing. “You don’t move into a neighborhood and immediately try and change it, and that’s what I feel the Bowlens are trying to do.”

According to Snyderville Basin resident Eileen Galoostian, “the Silver Creek community is already feeling a negative impact because of this.”

“House them somewhere else,” Galoostian said.

Bowlen is the owner of Pawsatch Snow Dogs. He said his malamutes have interacted with hundreds of children without any incidents.

“These are first and foremost pets of the Bowlens,” O’Brien said. “The Bowlens’ dogs have been mischaracterized grossly.”

The dogs are trained “extremely well,” she added.

“Let’s not discriminate against these dogs,” O’Brien said.

Basin Planning Commissioner Kathy Kinsman lives in Silver Creek.

“I’ve never heard the dogs,” Kinsman said. “Silver Creek is an eclectic community and part of what attracts people to it is this diversity and variety It is totally compatible in the Silver Creek neighborhood.”

The unanimous decision pleased Bowlen.

“My family and I would like to thank the residents of Silver Creek, all the families who have enjoyed our dogs and the county employees who have helped us through this process,” Bowlen said in a telephone interview Friday.