RESEDA : Petting Zoo Owner May Fight in Court

The owner of a Reseda petting zoo appealed for public support in her battle to keep her business open, and said that if the Los Angeles City Council votes, as expected, to close her down next week, she “would have no other choice” but to continue her fight in the courts.

“This is our last chance,” said Linda Menary, owner of The Farm on Tampa Avenue, at a press conference she called on her property Tuesday morning. A handful of media people showed up. Most spent their time photographing some of the dozens of animals, including ponies, llamas, chickens, goats and pigs, on Menary’s farm.

Menary has lost every step of the way in her years-long grapple with the city over permission to operate her pony ride within a residential neighborhood.

On Wednesday, she’ll have her last showdown before the council, which is scheduled to consider an appeal of a previous ruling that denied her a permit for the pony ride.

Menary’s farm has been called “Noah’s Ark” by animal regulatory officials, a nuisance by some neighbors and a local landmark by supporters. The case has lingered so long in the city’s zoning and building bureaucracies that aspects of it have been dubbed “mythological” by city officials.

Hostile neighbors say the petting zoo, packed onto a 1.5-acre property with a dirt parking lot, has caused frequent problems with odors, insects, parking and escaping chickens.

When Menary was ordered to apply for a conditional-use permit to continue operating the pony ride, which was relocated from up the block in 1988, neighbors packed hearings in opposition.

But parents who bring their children to the farm on weekends rallied in support of Menary, arguing that the farm is one of few places remaining in the city where children can see and touch farm animals.

“They allow these bars and sex clubs to open up right and left for adults and there’s nothing for children,” Menary said.

Last month, the council Planning and Land-Use Management Committee recommended that Menary’s appeal be denied. Denise Binder, planning deputy for Councilwoman Laura Chick, who sits on the committee, said Menary had a history of violating building codes, and said the pony ride is inappropriate for the neighborhood.

“This is not about ponies and children. Those are things we all feel good about. But this is about land-use and complying with regulations,” Binder said.