SUN VALLEY : Appeal by Stable Owner Is Denied

The cancellation of a Los Angeles city Board of Zoning Appeals hearing, scheduled for Tuesday morning, has meant the denial of an appeal by the owner of a Sun Valley horse stable.

Lilo Zipler, owner of L&H; Ranch, can appeal again, but the board will not automatically reconsider the issue, city planner Anne Howell said. L&H; Ranch was one of four applicants whose appeals were to be considered at the hearing.

In the meantime, the hearing cancellation means that a zoning administrator’s decision in May is upheld.

The meeting was canceled because of a lack of a quorum, Howell said. Two of the seats on the five-member board are vacant and a third member had to be excused for medical reasons, she said.

L&H; Ranch is the last of a group of 18 Valley stables cited by the city in December for not having business licenses or zoning permits.

All the other cases have since been resolved, with the stables receiving permits either on a long-term basis or without an expiration date. Zipler is appealing a decision by a zoning administrator in May that limited the duration of the permit and the number of horses allowed on the property, said Arline De Sanctis, chief field deputy for Councilman Joel Wachs.

The zoning administrator had approved a maximum of 18 horses, while Zipler wanted a permit for 28, De Sanctis said. Also, the permit had been limited to 20 years, and Zipler wanted no time limit. Stable owners had protested the shorter time limits on permits because that would force them to pay hundreds of dollars in renewal fees.

De Sanctis said the council office would prefer permits without expiration dates because it not only makes it simpler for the owner but also easier for the city to track the conditions set on a property as owners change.

An appeal for the horse stable could be filed again next week, De Sanctis said.