Valley Pony Ride Owner Again Runs Afoul of City Zoning Laws

VAN NUYS — The owner of a Reseda pony ride has been ordered to serve 80 hours of community service for keeping animals at a Northridge pumpkin patch and Christmas tree lot.

The animals attracted so many flies that a religious school next door issued fly swatters to its teachers and kept windows closed during classes, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said.

Linda Menary, owner of Menary’s Pony Riding Academy on Tampa Avenue, broke zoning laws by having horses, fowl and a rabbit on the property on Winnetka Avenue and Parthenia Street, thereby violating conditions of her probation on an earlier conviction for zoning misdeeds at Menary’s Pony Riding Academy, a Municipal Court judge ruled Tuesday.

Menary has been embroiled in a decade-long zoning battle with the city of Los Angeles over her pony ride and petting zoo on Tampa Avenue.

She has claimed the city is wrongfully targeting her. Menary could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Assistant City Atty. Don Cocek said Menary for years had failed to obtain proper permits for her Reseda business or address neighbors’ complaints of foul odors, dust and traffic. He said Menary finally acquired the proper permits, put up fences and cleaned up the place after criminal charges were filed earlier this year.

When she began running the pumpkin patch and Christmas tree lot last year, Cocek said, Menary’s neighbors, Cornerstone Christian Church and Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, complained she was bringing animals on the lot, which violates zoning laws.

“All the droppings were creating a health hazard,” said Tom Shedd, assistant pastor of Cornerstone, which runs a private preschool and elementary school on site. “It was a real infringement on what we had established here.”