OFFICIALS TO VISIT WILD-ANIMAL SITES; PROPERTY OWNERS SEEKING COUNTY PERMITS FOR EXOTIC SPECIES.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

County planning commissioners voted Wednesday to visit two rural sites before deciding whether to grant permission to establish and expand separate facilities where exotic wildlife are kept and will be trained.

Actress Tippi Hedren, whose Shambala compound for wild animals has been a fixture on Soledad Canyon Road for 26 years, asked the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission to let her use the preserve for activities ranging from fund-raisers to picnics, from private parties to tours and overnight camping.

County staffers recommended that the five-member commission deny the request for overnight camping, said Russell Fricano, principal planner for the county Department of Regional Planning.

Meanwhile, applicant Hayden Rosenaur sought permission to keep wild animals on Serengeti Ranch, his 148-acre property in the 30300 block of Arrastre Canyon Road. Rosenaur, who lives in a ranch house on the otherwise vacant property, trains wild animals for the motion picture industry and wants to keep them on the premises, Fricano said.

``The site isn't open to the public,'' he said. The land was previously used for agricultural purposes.

The animals that Rosenaur wants permission to bring onto the ranch include wildcats, lions, tigers, cheetahs, rhinoceroses, elephants, zebras, deer, leopards, lynxes, monkeys, gazelles, moose, elks and kudus, African antelope.

``He's limited to a total of 100 animals,'' Fricano said. Rosenaur listed several animal varieties, although he may never keep some of those breeds on the premises.

Also speaking at the public hearing in downtown Los Angeles were the owners of two neighboring pieces of vacant land. Fricano said landowners Al Palma and Robert Linford expressed opposition to Rosenaur's wildlife proposal because they plan to build homes on their property.

``They're concerned about safety . . . and the noise from the animals,'' Fricano said.

Planning commissioners voted to postpone a decision on both the Serengeti and Shambala proposals until Nov. 9, and they scheduled an Oct. 20 field trip to the sites, both near the Santa Clara River, in a remote region between the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys.

Also speaking at the Planning Commission meeting were Hedren, her consultant, Carolyn Ingram-Seitz, and one opponent of the Shambala proposal, Acton resident Stacey Nickels, who expressed concern about potential pollution impacts on the Santa Clara River, Fricano said.

Hedren can accommodate about 85 animals on her land. The preserve has elephants, lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, cougars, panthers, hybrid cats called ligers and tigons, and an African wildcat called a serval, Fricano said.

Addressing the Planning Commission in support of Rosenaur's request, meanwhile, were members of the Acton Town Council, the Acton Civic Association and representatives of the animal training industry, Fricano said.

Requests for conditional use permits are granted or denied by the Planning Commission. The five-member board's decisions are final, but either side may appeal the decision to the county Board of Supervisors, Fricano noted.