NORTHRIDGE : Petting Zoo Owner Begins Appeals Process

Linda Menary says she’ll fight to preserve a last remnant of what she calls the old San Fernando Valley--even if she has to go all the way to the City Council to do it.

“I own this land. I worked all my life to own this land,” said Menary, as she ushered a group of schoolchildren onto the property for pony rides Thursday. “Why should I have to move?”

Menary, owner of The Farm, a commercial petting zoo and pony-ride at 8108 Tampa Ave. in Northridge, filed an appeal Wednesday of a zoning administrator’s decision that threatens to put her out of business. The administrator, John Parker, last month rejected Menary’s request for a conditional-use permit to keep operating the zoo.

The appeal, which will be heard by the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals next fall, is the latest in a series of efforts by Menary to keep her business despite neighborhood opposition.

Residents in the suburban-style homes nearby have complained about parking, noise, flies and smells from the 1.5-acre site. Although many parents of small children have voiced support for the recreational value of The Farm, Parker ruled that it would be too difficult to impose sufficient conditions to assuage neighbors’ concerns.

Besides permit problems, Menary said she is wrestling with financial difficulties. Heavy rains last winter forced her to close the business for nine weekends, which cut into her income, she said. Also, the appeal has been more costly than she expected. City officials rejected the first appeal made by a neighbor of Menary’s on her behalf last week, contending that Menary was trying to avoid higher fees by appealing via a third party, said Paul Tholl, city planning associate.

Menary, who denies that she was trying to cheat the system, eventually filed on her own at a cost of $2,500. If she loses, she said she plans to appeal again to the City Council. If forced to close the business, she would have to destroy most of her menagerie--including more than 50 ponies, ducks, geese, sheep, goats and four llamas--because she couldn’t afford to keep the land, she said.

“This is a glimpse of the rural San Fernando Valley--the way the Valley was,” she said, adding “I’m not encroaching on them (the neighbors). They are encroaching on me.”