SAN MARCOS — Following an often emotional and at times contentious hearing Wednesday night, the San Marcos Planning Commission unanimously approved a permit for Manuel Villanueva, the original owner of the now-shuttered Angel Paws Pet Cremation, to operate a pet crematorium at the same site.
Angel Paws closed suddenly a year ago after SDG&E cut off power for nonpayment, leaving many pets’ remains to rapidly decompose without refrigeration.
The applicant, Villanueva, told commissioners that after founding the crematorium in 2005, he sold the business to Chris Settle in 2010 but remained as landlord. When the business park manager called him in September 2025 to report a strong, foul odor coming from the business, he contacted Settle.
After not receiving what he viewed as an adequate response, Villanueva worked with the city to obtain legal entry to the property and found the remains of more than 100 pets.
Villanueva said he returned some pets’ remains to their owners based on identification tags, but the state of decomposition created a health hazard.
“We couldn’t keep the pet remains any longer,” he told the commission.
Wednesday’s staff report on the conditional use permit application indicated that the city had received 18 letters in support of Villanueva’s application, including letters from local veterinarians and law enforcement canine officers.
The report also indicated that pet cremation is consistent with the business park zoning at 120 N. Pacific Street, although the permit requires the operator of any crematorium there to also obtain a permit from the San Diego Air Pollution Control District.
In addition, staff said the city had received no complaints during the five years Villanueva operated the business.
Of the 13 speakers who addressed the commission, six spoke in support of Villanueva’s application, including a local K-9 officer who had trained his canine partner with Villanueva and a former employee. The business park manager said Villanueva responded immediately and quickly took control of the situation when he called him about the odors at Angel Paws.
However, seven speakers opposed issuing the permit, often tearfully describing what they viewed as Villanueva’s insufficient efforts to reunite Angel Paws customers with their pets’ remains after Settle was evicted.
One resident said Villanueva rejected an offer from distraught pet owners to help identify remains so their owners could be notified. Another, who said he was a retired Marine, said he felt Villanueva had failed to meet his obligations as landlord and angrily told the commission he did not feel Villanueva should be allowed to run a pet crematorium.
Commissioner Kevin Norris asked city planning staff whether a conditional use permit is tied to the business or the land parcel and was told it is tied to the land. Commissioner Christopher Carroll asked whether a one-year compliance review included in Villanueva’s proposed permit was standard. Staff said it was not standard and was a precautionary measure in light of what occurred with Angel Paws.
Typically, conditional use permits are issued for 10 years with no compliance checkpoints.
Asked about the accusation that he refused volunteer assistance from former Angel Paws customers, Villanueva acknowledged that he had but said the biohazard posed by more than 100 pets’ decomposing remains prevented him from accepting those offers.
“There are some good safeguards in place,” Norris said of the proposed permit, which also includes a five-year administrative review.
Commissioner Mike Barnett pointed out to the audience, “Who runs a business is beyond the scope of this body.”
The commission approved the permit unanimously.
Studio gets extension
In other action Wednesday evening, the commission considered a proposed conditional use permit extension for the existing sports training video studio in the former recycling plant off San Elijo Road.
Originally pitched two decades ago as a cheaper filming location for Hollywood productions, the site has morphed into a facility where athletes can have performance videos made.
The permit extension requires the operator to install a long-promised traffic signal at its driveway at 1601 San Elijo Road. In addition, after five years, the operator can request an administrative review for another five-year extension, for a total of 10 years.
One neighbor of the facility spoke. While supportive of the application, she asked the commission to consider placing additional road improvement obligations on the facility operator.
The permit extension was unanimously approved.
