200 in Horse Area Protest Proposed Zoning Change

More than 200 people packed a public hearing in Calabasas on Wednesday to protest a proposed zoning change they fear could lead to restrictions on horse ownership in rural areas across the county.

“This zoning appears to be a solution in search of a problem,” Ruth Gerson, an Agoura resident who owns six horses, told the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission.

The controversy has its roots in rustic Triunfo Canyon, an oak-studded haven once home to a noisy 23-acre party palace for hire called Fantasy Island.

The property has since been sold, but some residents are equally distressed by the zoning change.

Proposed in 1998 by county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the new zone was intended to limit the “resort and recreation” uses in the rural area. But the new “light resort and recreation” zone, as drafted by county planners, would require conditional-use permits for riding academies and stables.

Stable owners now in resort and recreation areas may keep two horses per gross acre. The proposed zoning would permit two horses per “usable” acre--land actually available to horses, not counting hillsides or structures such as houses.