Planners Side With Equestrians Over Size of Yards in Granada Hills Project

San Fernando Valley equestrian groups won a preliminary victory Thursday when the Los Angeles Planning Commission rejected a developer’s plan to reduce the size of back yards at a Granada Hills housing project where residents would be permitted to keep horses.

Equestrians said the decision, which will require the developer to make back yards large enough so that horses can exercise, will preserve the lifestyle in a Granada Hills neighborhood where many residents enjoy access to numerous Santa Susana Mountain trails.

In a 3-0 vote, commissioners ordered RWR Development Inc. of Los Angeles to make lots at the 91-house tract along Mayerling Street big enough so residents could build 2,000-square-foot corrals and stables at least 35 feet away from their houses.

Wes Lind, a representative for the developer, said the decision will be appealed to the City Council’s Planning and Environment Committee. Lind said the city had previously approved storm drains and grading plans and to reconfigure the project now would be too costly.

The developer said that the back yards were to be 2,000 square feet, large enough to allow a stable to be built 35 feet from the house, as mandated by city zoning laws.

Equestrians, however, said the developer wrongly interpreted city zoning and other ordinances that pertain to residential horse keeping. They argued that laws call for a back yard big enough to contain both a 2,000-square-foot corral area and stable 35 feet from the house.

Because county health and city animal regulation codes prohibit horses from coming within 35 feet of a house, residents in the new tract would be breaking the law if they let their horses out of the stable for exercise or feeding.

“No responsible horse keeper would buy such a property because it is too small for horses,” said Kent Lovelady, a member of the Granada Hillside Property Owners Assn.

In siding with the residents, Planning Commission President William G. Luddy said that if the smaller lots were permitted, “we would be setting people up for citations” from health and animal regulation authorities.