Flock of Complaints : Neighbors in Posh Area Say Farm’s 600 Ostriches Are Just Too Foul

OK, one ostrich, that could be a pet, neighbors say. Two, maybe. But 600 of the flightless fowl, next to their multimillion dollar homes--that’s a nuisance.

Add 500 emus--a relative of the ostrich--200 goats and 10 llamas, and you have a zoo, they claim.

The birds and other creatures at Mohilef Farms--numbering over 1,000, according to a worker there Tuesday--certainly seem out of place next to the groomed hedges, BMWs and 15,000-square-foot homes in Monteria Estates, a gated community in northern Chatsworth that is one of the wealthiest districts in Los Angeles. But neighbors say the animals are more than just a lumbering, feathery blight.

“The urine from the birds is kind of like an ammonia,” said Greg Butts, whose property abuts the menagerie’s home. “It makes manure smell like Liz Claiborne.”

Farm owner David Mohilef declined to comment on the allegations. But neighbors, both within the gated compound and outside its walls, have become increasingly vocal in their complaints.

“The dust, the feathers, the pulverized feces and urine . . . all over the neighborhood,” said Vin Fichter, who lives downwind of the farm. “Some of the most expensive homes in the Valley are right there.”

Responding to dozens of complaints from homeowners, the City Zoning Administration has scheduled a hearing for July 11 to determine whether Mohilef Farms--which is on land zoned for agricultural use--is a commercial venture, and if so, to decide if it is a public nuisance.

“He is allowed to have . . . fowl, as long as he can contain whatever number there might be under healthy conditions,” said Lee Hintlian, legislative deputy for City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area. “In our opinion, it is probably a commercial operation, and as such is subject to a nuisance investigation.”

If the farm is determined to be a nuisance, City Planning Investigator Vincent Quitoriano said, then limits may be imposed.

A woman identifying herself only as the manager of the farm approached a reporter near the compound Tuesday and spoke briefly before driving off.

“We keep it immaculate,” she said. “They clean the pens every day. Do you smell anything?”

Indeed, there was nothing malodorous in the air Tuesday afternoon, though neighbors claim the stench is strongest in the morning and evening.

Mohilef has long kept animals on the approximately six-acre property, including various exotic birds, and there were no problems in years past, neighbors said. And when the ostriches began appearing in small numbers some time last year, they were little more than an interesting anomaly on the well-kept landscape.

“We didn’t really notice them at first,” said Butts.

And then, according to several in the area, as the number of creatures began increasing, so did the acidic odor and wind-whipped fecal matter.

“We have the pool cleaned three times a week it’s so bad,” said Mark Byrnes, a San Diego architect and contractor who has been living in a neighboring house the last six weeks overseeing earthquake repairs.

While Mohilef declined to say why he had some 600 ostriches at his place, the notoriously dimwitted creatures are increasingly in demand as livestock, raised for their meat, leather and feathers. Ostrich ranches have been popping up around the country, and the world.

Ostrich meat--which is red like beef, not white like chicken--is very low in fat and cholesterol, and tastes like “filet mignon,” in the words of one local ostrich rancher. The birds also provide an expensive pliable leather, and feathers that resist static electricity, and so are useful in the cleaning of delicate computer equipment.

This is not the first time the skittish, wide-eyed, 350-pound animals have made news locally, either.

Neighbors of a Topanga ostrich ranch--which had just 12 birds--voiced many of the same complaints as the neighbors in Monteria Estates and forced that operation to move last month.

A Sunland man who pleaded guilty last year to stealing seven young ostriches--a mating pair can fetch $75,000--was sentenced to three years probation and 60 days community service.

While awaiting the July 11 hearing--to be held at 9 a.m. at the Sherman Oaks Woman’s Club at 4808 Kester Ave.--the ostriches and emus and goats and llamas at Monteria Estates will continue to live the high life.

And neighbors say they will continue to clean their pools.