A proposed Carmel Valley canine club has become a touchstone of controversy.

Beanie, a 5-year-old mix of Jack Russell terrier and Italian greyhound, leaps out of the Subaru into Carmel Valley sunshine. He stops and sniffs the air.

The pup – whose owner is a friend of this reporter – has a regal quality that’s hard to pin down: Is it his sleek black-and-white coat that resembles a canine tuxedo? Is it that he seems to possess an old soul, one prone to pensive gazes at the horizon? Or perhaps it’s that his owner, when channelling Beanie’s voice, speaks with a French accent?

Yet despite all these fine attributes, Beanie has never been a member of a country club. It might not be something his owner would pursue in any case, but as of right now, it’s not even an option: Despite the ubiquity of golf courses in the region, there are no canine clubs where dog enthusiasts can come train for competitive shows in events like agility and herding.

Ken Ekelund, who smiles upon meeting Beanie, would like to change that. Along with his wife, Martha Diehl, and their business partner, Ernie Mill, he is part of the team proposing the highly controversial Carmel Canine Sports Center, a private club for dogs and dog owners to train, recreate and, every so often, host competitive events.

On Aug. 26, the project was approved 6-0 by the county Planning Commission – of which Diehl is a member – with three commissioners recusing themselves: In addition to Diehl, Keith Vandevere recused himself due to his longtime friendship with Diehl, and Amy Roberts cited her prior involvement in dog-related projects. The Planning Commission decision was appealed by Quail Lodge and the neighborhood group Friends of Quail, and on Oct. 27, the project will go in front of the Board of Supervisors.

Diehl suggested visiting the proposed project site, off Valley Greens Drive in Carmel Valley, to better understand the concept. Ekelund offered to lead a tour.

As he steps across fields of short-hewn grass, Ekelund explains that the idea for the club dates back more than 10 years, and was born out Diehl’s love for dogs. He also says it’s filling an unmet need.

“We’re supposed to be the most dog-friendly area in the country,” he says, as Beanie darts across the grass in pursuit of ground squirrels.

Ekelund says different fields on the property will offer a range of training options, and that dog owners will be able to reserve them like one would a tennis court. He leads the way to an empty irrigation pond, which aside from providing short-term water storage, could be used for aquatic canine events.

“HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A HALF-MILLION – DOLLAR RV? IT’S NOT THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES.”

He finishes the tour at a field envisioned for one of the most contentious aspects of the project: RV parking. As proposed, the club will be allowed 24 event days annually, with permission to park up to 70 RVs on the site. Ekelund contends that any noise created by generators – which will be prohibited between 8:30pm and 8am – will be drowned out by traffic. He also disagrees that they will be unsightly.

“Have you ever seen a half-million-dollar RV?” he asks. “It’s not the Beverly Hillbillies.”

Ekelund adds that he and Diehl do not expect to get rich off the project.

“It’s not about making money. We’re just dog people.”

But there are also many dog people opposed to the proposal, which has been attacked by scores of nearby residents, as well as the owners of the adjacent Quail Lodge, who fear the club will negatively impact their business. The environmental impact report, which Diehl says cost her team $183,000, drew over 70 letters calling its findings into question.

The project’s most controversial aspects have proven to be noise, events and traffic. Of those, the EIR states that the traffic impacts can’t be mitigated.

According to estimates in the EIR, the project will create about 500 additional trips on an average day, whether or not there’s a special event.

A few things make that estimate problematic: The county’s 2014 Carmel Valley Road Corridor Study projects that by 2030, three intersections on the road will have an “F” level of service – which signifies highly congested, jammed conditions – in peak evening hours. Among those three is the intersection with Valley Greens Drive, which would service the canine club. The study also shows that the unsignaled intersection had the second highest number of accidents on Carmel Valley Road between 2008 and 2012.

The two parties appealing the Planning Commission’s approval are Friends of Quail, a group of nearby residents represented by attorney Molly Erickson, and Quail Lodge, represented by attorney Tony Lombardo.

Lombardo laughs when asked if he’s ever been on the same side as Erickson, who’s made a career of opposing development, and then he starts criticizing the EIR for being overly vague.

“What happens if more than 250 people come?” he asks. (Events are capped at 250 attendees.) “Why doesn’t it compare to other alternative uses for the site? Why is there no discussion of air quality?”

If the supervisors approve the project, a lawsuit is likely, Lombardo says.

At an Oct. 8 panel discussion at Carmel Valley’s Del Mesa Community, Diehl and Friends of Quail member John Mahoney present their respective cases. Diehl lays out some of the basics: The project will be set on a 47-acre cluster of parcels owned by the Wolter family, who used it as an organic farm for more than 60 years and are now leasing it out. She says the canine club is a way to keep much of the farmland, as opposed to the alternative of building eight new homes on the property.

Club membership will be capped at 500, and additional on-site structures will only amount to 2,400 square feet.

Mahoney responds that the property is zoned low-density residential, and that it’s not about dogs – it’s about the environment and quality of life.

“Traffic on Highway 1 and Carmel Valley Road is already at the max,” he says, and then points out the trips the club will create are projected to be about 181,000 per year. “We just don’t know how you can justify that increase.”

When the floor is opened for questions, many use the opportunity to voice their discontent, including Carmel Valley resident Linda Mullally, who writes books about dog-friendly trails. Mullally finds it troubling the county will be charged with monitoring attendance numbers and whether attendees are abiding by noise restrictions, and expects that rules will be broken.

“Canine nature is perfect,” she says. “Human nature is flawed.”