New Version of Ordinance Bars Horses From Median Strips

A proposed city ordinance that alarmed east San Fernando Valley equestrians because it would have prohibited the riding of horses on city streets and highways has been pared down to apply only to median strips.

A draft of the ordinance was submitted to the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday, but the vote was postponed until Oct. 31 to allow for additional revision.

Councilman Joel Wachs said he will ask that the final version exempt areas where bridle paths are built in the future. The ordinance as drafted exempted only areas with existing bridle paths.

The suggestion to keep horses out of median strips was raised four years ago by Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who said she became concerned that in her San Pedro district the animals were breaking sprinkler heads, damaging grass and leaving excrement.

At that time, the Planning Department expressed concerns that barring horses and riders from medians would send them onto side streets. When the ordinance returned to the council this spring, it had been expanded to include all streets, highways, medians, curbs, culverts, drains and bridges.

Restrictions Opposed

At a June hearing before the council’s Planning and Environment Committee, nine people opposed the ordinance as overly restrictive, all of them from the northeast Valley. They said that widespread Valley development had cut off many horse trails, leaving city streets the only link between stables and parks.

“What were they supposed to do, pick up their horses and carry them to the ridgeline?” asked Arlene DeSanctis, Wachs’ chief field deputy.

“That would have been a death knell to riding up here,” said Andrea Gutman, a rider and member of the Shadow Hills Homeowners Assn.

Gutman said that even though the median restriction will affect riders in San Pedro far more than East Valley riders, she still does not think it is a good idea.

“It just sounds ridiculous to me,” she said.