An animal rescue and adoption center in Woodland Hills can keep its doors open after a city planning panel overturned a zoning administrator’s decision last month.
AGWC Rockin’ Rescue, which had allegedly been operating in Los Angeles without required approvals for three years, was granted a variance on Jan. 26 by the South Valley Area Planning Commission, which allows it to operate in a commercial zone. The vote was 4-0, with one commissioner absent from the meeting, according to a spokesman with the city of Los Angeles’ Department of City Planning.
“They still have a home — that’s what it means for all the animals,” said Ady Gil, director and founder of the two-story, 11,000-square-foot facility that houses some 80 cats and dogs on Ventura Boulevard at Oakdale Avenue, by phone on Monday. “They don’t have to go back to the shelter. … The bottom line is they’re going to live.”
• PHOTOS: Life with the pets and owners at AGWC Rockin’ Rescue in Woodland Hills
Maya Zaitzevsky, the associate zoning administrator who denied the center’s request for the variances to operate in November, noted in her written decision that the commercial zoning regulations in place for a C1 zone, which is typically used for retail and restaurant use, “do not allow nonprofit animal rescue centers to operate in the same locations and zones as pet stores or animal groomers.” Instead, she said, they are restricted to operating within city manufacturing zones that are not within 500 feet of a residential area.
Los Angeles Councilman Bob Blumenfield, a vocal supporter of the animal rescue that sits in his district, called the planning panel’s decision a win for the community.
Blumenfield submitted a motion to the City Council on Jan. 20 that would ultimately revise the city’s code to allow shelters in commercial zones with certain precautions and protections for things like noise and smells.
“To me it’s crazy that they’re not allowed in commercial zones,” Blumenfield said in a recent interview. “Our objective is to get these animals rescued to prevent the unnecessary killing of stray animals — to create the environment where they can be adopted, where people go — where there’s foot traffic in commercial zones.”
The action by the South Valley Area Planning Commission can be appealed to the City Council. Individuals have 15 days to act once a letter of determination is issued, which had not happened as of Monday, according to the Department of City Planning spokesman.
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